Dark Paradise
by Cerenbus.Snape.Malfoy
Summary: Jaybin Maburdan is the granddaughter of Severus Snape and is destined to some estranged prophesy that is more than twenty years old that speaks of death and history repeating itself. Will Jaybin be able to figure out the prophesy and bring to light the mystery that could potentially harm her and her family? (Sequel to The Boy No One Knew)
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING! This is the sequel to my story 'The Boy No One Knew'. If you have not read it and it's prequel '****Evil Little Follower', you should NOT read this, as it will make absolutely NO sense.**

**Also, please note that my stories tend to wander extensively from the cannon story lines, and often have an overload of OCs.**

**Full summary: ** Jaybin Maburdan is the granddaughter of Severus Snape and is destined to some estranged prophesy that is more than twenty years old that speaks of death and history repeating itself. Will Jaybin be able to figure out the prophesy and bring to light the mystery that could potentially harm her and her family?

**Genres:** Angst, mystery, family, friendship, romance, hurt/comfort

**WARNING:** rated T for mild language, major angsty-stuff, blood, death, blah blah blah, suicide, torture, murder, blah blah blah, bullying, mobbing, self-harm, blah blah blah, sexual harassment, overt gayness, male rape, blah blah blah… You know, the usual.

**Disclaimer:** You know the drill; I claim I had no part whatsoever in the writing/production of Harry Potter, while secretly writing an eighth book and filming a ninth movie as you read my story, none the wiser to my scheming.

/_italics mean dreams and sometimes thoughts. _**/Bold means letters or notes that the character is reading or, if preluded by an impending 'AN' it means 'Author's notes' **

**AN: The time is set to be ten years into the future, Jaybin's second year at Hogwarts. Keep in mind that Scorpius isn't in Hogwarts yet… and I know he's only supposed to be three, but meh. My story, my rules. As I stated above, I don't follow cannon to the T.**

** This story has a LOT of OC charries, and only a couple cannon characters; Scorpius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter (briefly) Hermione and Ron Weasley… blah blah blah, you get the gist. Read on. :D **

**Chapter one:**

**Dark, Mysterious Paradise**

**POV: Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy**

"I wish I were old enough to go to Hogwarts." I complained, holding my father's hand as we wove around the bustling streets of Diagon Alley. I looked up at my father who kept his eyes glued ahead of him, focused intently on steering me around all the lively people.

"I know, Scorpius, but just think, you'll be three years older then, and therefore three years wiser." Father replied.

I looked back up at him, surprised he'd even heard me as he was so caught up in avoiding people. I sighed, nodding. "So, where are we going?" I asked, tightening my hold on his hand as someone brushed past me and I was nearly swept away by the crowd. Father had told me Diagon Ally had changed a lot since he was a boy. More people hung around the streets… not necessarily very good people.

"I'm just picking up one more supply and then I'm off to Hogwarts." He replied, finally going into one of the stores, pushing me ahead of him.

I nodded. Father was taking over as the new healer at Hogwarts, which meant I might (might!) be able to visit him from time to time… see what Hogwarts was like. I mean, I'd seen all the other places he'd worked at.

I was paying little to no attention as father picked out the things he needed, but I was startled out of my mind when father suddenly tensed up, whatever he'd been holding slipping jerkily from his gasp and falling to the floor with a clatter.

"Father…?" I looked up at him to see his eyes were wide and he was staring through the window, his mouth agape and moving slightly. "Fa-father!" I cried when he suddenly lurched forward, trying to peer through the window, he slammed his fist on the sill and cursed loudly as he hastily headed for the door. I scurried after him as he went outside the shop, pushing through the crowd ruthlessly.

"Father!" I called after him, trying to squeeze through as well. "Father! Where-mph, where are you going?!" I cried, desperately battling the crowd to no avail. I nearly collided with a woman before she swiftly avoided me. I tripped, ready to fall face first onto the hard asphalt when I suddenly felt strong arms wrap around me and I was carried out of the crowd and back into the more quiet shop we'd been in previously.

I brushed myself off, staring up at my father as he stared back at me, his face scrunched up in deep thought, his eyes looking through me and seemed almost glazed over. "Father?" I whispered tentatively, gently resting a small hand on his arm.

He jumped and looked down at me. "Uh, sorry… son. I just… thought I saw something." He murmured, moving past me to pick up the thing he'd dropped earlier and checking to make sure he'd not broken it.

I scrunched up my nose, thinking. It wasn't like father to get like that when he just 'thought he saw something'. He wouldn't do that with just anything. Silently, I wondered what he'd seen that had startled him so much, and something he'd wanted to catch up to so desperately that he'd raced after it, completely forgetting about me in the dangerous streets of Diagon Ally. Yes, everything had changed from when he was a boy. Nothing was safe anymore. Diagon Alley was now almost as bad as its sister street, Nocturne Alley.

I sighed, vowing to ask him about it later, as I didn't think now was a good time.

**POV: Mirianda Perios Snape-Maburdan**

"Over the years of your life, you had to battle sickness. Every day for a while there, you went to the healers, you had to take so much medicine, and yet, mother never sympathized. She was mad at you for something you had no control over, and father was frustrated with you as well. It drained so much of your life away." I let a tear slip down my cheek.

"Anne and daddy did all they could, and I hope you know that. But…" I shook my head sadly. "with your condition, there wasn't much they could do. I wish though I could take back time, go back the day you died, so I could have been with you. I'm sorry I wasn't there, I was at home with Jaybin, when I should have been with you. If I hadn't made that mistake… if I had been mature like father had wanted… even if I couldn't have saved you, I would have been with you. I feel so bad, I feel like dying, so that I could join you in heaven, because I know that's where you are. But for your sake I'll keep fighting, because you showed me how to be strong, and I don't want to disappoint you, so I'll keep on going." I whispered, resting my hand on the cold, wet rock.

I let my gaze linger over the words on the rock. They were so melancholy. If sorrow could be expressed in words, the words on his gravestone said enough.

**Falin Cerenbus Snape**

**Born Evil Follower**

**Died Secret Son**

**May you forever rest in peace of mind, heart and soul**

Those words were like closers. Like the miserably despondent ending to a depressing story. I hated it. The words proclaimed his death, leaving no room for argument. It was a finale. The conclusion. It was almost too much to bear. I squeezed my eyes shut, letting out a choked sob as I sat there, pulling up fistfuls of grass. My eyes moved over to my father's grave and my heart broke even more.

I stood abruptly, unable to take any more. I apparated quickly away to Diagon Alley, allowing the no-nonsense hustle and bustle to preoccupy my mind enough to take it away from the two graves I had just visited. I walked around for a long time, eyeing everyone with suspicion. Diagon Ally wasn't like it used to be, after several Death Eaters and Voldemort sympathizers had been let out of Azkaban a few years back, they'd begun corrupting the streets and gathering followers, and the Ministry was turning a blind eye to it as usual… you just couldn't trust anyone anymore.

My life had slowly gone downhill from the moment I was born to the moment in which I was now, and even though my life wasn't all _that bad _per se, I still couldn't help but feel that even now, my life was still dropping rapidly into the pits of madness and crazed old dreams.

Koteis and I fought a lot nowadays. He wanted to move out, but I wanted to stay with Annenia. She had been so good to us for so long, and she was struggling to keep up the house on her own, now that father was gone as well. It had broken her heart to lose another husband. She had been so in love with father, it just tore me in half to see her upset. Even after all these years, she still cried about what had been taken from her.

And so, even though my husband adored Annenia, he wanted to get a place of our own in Dawnsbrook, because now… we really were the last ones in Devil's Abode. It just wasn't exiting enough for him. He also claimed it wasn't a child-friendly environment, even though Jaybin had gone through primary school in Dawnsbrook. It wasn't like she didn't have any friends.

Koteis also complained about having to go all the way to Dawnbrook every day for work and again to get groceries and such since the Eustagio had closed several years back. Sjaanje wasn't around anymore, and his son wasn't interested in keeping the little grocery going.

I knew where Koteis was coming from, but I just couldn't leave Annenia, even if I'd wanted to. Nor could I leave the town that had been my home for the past eighteen years… there were just too many memories, far too many to leave behind.

When Koteis and I had gotten married in 2001, after the war was over for two years and everything was starting to go back to normal, he had been under the impression that I and Jaybin would move in with him, and move all the way to Wilton in Wiltshire. It was much too far away from Somerset for my taste.

I was drawn immediately from my thoughts as my shoulder collided sharply with someone else's and I stumbled.

"Sorry!" A hand reached down and pulled me back to my feet.

"Thanks." I smiled sadly at the young woman, grateful the wizard world wasn't overrun with thugs just yet.

"Mirianda?" She cried, staring at me.

"I'm sorry, do I know you-" I stared at her for a moment. My eyes lit up as I recognized her. "Miriad…?" My eyes widened as I stared at the green-eyed redhead. I hadn't seen Miriad Hensul in nearly twelve years! I hadn't even bumped into her on the streets of Devil's Abode even though I was pretty sure she was still living there. I eyed her. No wonder I hadn't recognized her. She'd only been twelve when I'd last seen her. She'd grown up.

"Mirianda! It's um, good to see you." She murmured, looking down, nervously shoving a clump of red hair behind her ear.

"Mum? Come on, we're going to be late." I glanced down to see a mini version of herself, same red hair and green eyes. I stared at the child, knowing she must be the baby Miriad had gotten by cheating on Falin. But she looked too young. And then I saw him – the little boy. He came up beside his sister, her light skin dark compared to his, his cross-eyed dark gaze glinting up at me, black hair falling into his eyes. I swallowed hard, trying to hold back a glare.

"Mirianda! So good to see you." I looked up to see Fegas Praygun, his black hair messily hanging about his handsome face, his dark eyes sparkling. I glanced back down at the little boy, trying to not hold contempt for the innocent child but failing miserably as he shifted nervously under my hard gaze.

"Uhm, hi." I mumbled awkwardly, realizing Fegas had said hello and I hadn't replied. "These your kids?" I asked haltingly, indicating the two children.

"Oh, yes, Mirianda. I want you to meet, Sayik, our oldest, and, Sejyra." She smiled, indicating first the boy and then the girl. I shook my head slowly, glancing up at Miriad, who looked like she had a million other things she wanted to be doing. "Sayik, Sejyra, this is a school friend of mine, Mirianda…um…" She raised her eyebrows in question.

"Maburdan." I offered and she nodded.

"Well, good to see you." She murmured, pushing her husband forward and pulling her children behind her. I noticed Sayik walked with a limp, his twisted right ankle seemingly making it hard for him to walk. That and his crooked eye were probably birth deformities from being born illegitimately, as well as being born when his mother was so young. He hadn't the right amount of room to grow in Miriad's twelve-is-too-young-to-be-having-a-child womb.

I shook my head sadly as I stared after them for a moment and was suddenly brushed aside by a man who looked like he was chasing after them. "Watch where you're going, you stupid-" But he was already past me. I sighed and turned around, dodging to avoid a little boy who was trying to keep up with the man.

I sighed wearily, continuing my mind-cleansing walk through Diagon Alley, trying in vain to not think of a certain red-headed girl I wanted to strangle and an innocent raven-haired boy that had gotten caught up in the middle of it all.

**POV: Jaybin Dynil Maburdan**

"I've heard my parents talking before… there's this prophesy, and they're convinced it's about me." I sighed, talking on the phone with my best friend slash cousin, Aeverus Zhiazray.

"Wicked." Aeverus' voice cried on the other end, and I could hear him smirking.

"No, it's not, 'Verus. It's insane. A prophesy? What rubbish." I furrowed my brow, glaring down at my Witch Wizard magazine that I held under my nose, laying comfortably on my stomach on my bed.

"But Jay, there are thousands of prophesies in the Department of Mysteries. They're all real." Aeverus returned sensibly.

I scoffed, flipping in a page or two. "Rubbish." I repeated.

"What about the prophesy of the 'one with the power to vanquish the dark lord'?"

I feigned shock. "Why Aeverus, I didn't know you actually knew your history!"

Aeverus grunted in a non-committal way.

I smiled, continuing to tease him. "You may actually have a chance in Hogwarts after all."

"Can we get back to your prophesy thingie?" Aeverus cried.

"Fine." I relented. "But there's nothing to 'get back to'. It's barmy, pure and simple."

"You're not giving me enough info to go by, Jaybin. What's the actual prophesy?" Aeverus interrupted.

"You're reading too much into this, 'Verus. And besides, I've heard them talking about it, I haven't actually heard them say it." I sighed and rolled over onto my back, clutching the phone to make sure it didn't slip off my shoulder where I had it pinned against my ear.

"And you're not reading enough into it." Aeverus returned.

"Whatever mate… I got to go, mum's calling me." I hung up before he could reply and dropped the phone at my side. I stared up at the ceiling, allowing mum to call me three more times before I made myself get up and go downstairs to see what she wanted. As usual, I swerved sharply at the top of the stairs to avoid the rude/annoying painting of my uncle Falin. He always scowled at me for some reason in a way that made me shudder. Even though I heard his lonely singing fill the house during the evenings, I refused to go and visit him.

"Jaybin! There you are. Your Grand-Anne wants you to help her in the garden before we leave for Kings Cross Station." Mum told me distractedly, pulling items out of a grocery bag.

I groaned, slumping back against the counter dramatically. Mum came around, slapping my exposed stomach as she went. I yelped and jumped down, pulling my shirt down, glaring at her. She sent me a quick smirk and waved me towards the door, telling me to go without even speaking.

I sighed and dragged my feet all the way out to the gardens, where Grand-Anne already worked, pulling weeds and picking the vegetables that were ripe enough. "Oh, sweetie, good. You come to help?" She smiled up at me.

"Sent to help is more like it." I told her, plopping down on my knees in the dirt, half-heartedly plucking up weeds.

Grand-Anne laughed. "Your mother sent you out, did she?" She smiled at me and winked. "We'll go for icecream later." She promised.

"Can't." I muttered sadly.

"Oh that's right, you're going back to Hogwarts today!" She cried, dropping some weeds. "Well blast it, then! Let's go get icecream now! I can finish these later."

"Really?" I perked up immediately, standing and wiping off my knees, making sure my skirt hadn't gotten any dirt on it.

"Sure! It's your special day! Go tell your mother, I'll just get cleaned up a bit." She replied, also standing and dusting herself off.

I smiled and danced back to the house to inform my mother that Grand-Anne and I were going for icecream. It was, after all, my special day!

**AN: I know, kinda slow start... but I hope you enjoyed it, and will continue reading and maybe drop a review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two:**

**Hogwarts**

**POV: Sayik Cryptic Eden Praygun**

"Sayik Cryptic Eden Praygun! Get your ass down here right now! Do _not _make me tell you again!"

I sighed at the sound of my mother's voice as she called me for the twentieth time at best. I hated it when she used my full name. My name. She always told me I had a beautiful name. It was Latin and German and Hebrew and all that mess and translated to something I didn't care to know. Mother told me it was some odd tradition that names in the family were meant to have meaning behind them. I personally thought it was absurd.

I leaned forward, peering down at her from my perch in the utmost branches of my favorite tree. Mother stood at the bottom, glaring up at me, her hands on her hips, her green eyes flashing with a mixture of annoyance and worry. We'd just gotten back from a trip to Diagon Alley, where we'd purchased my Hogwarts things. Now it was probably time to leave.

I sighed again and closed the book I'd been reading before slowly making my descent. Only when I reached the bottom did I remember why I was up in the tree in the first place.

"Do you have your things packed? We're leaving any minute!" Mother fretted, messing with my collar and fixing my hair. I pushed her hands away, running a hand through my long, black tresses, letting the hair fall back over my eyes like I knew she hated. Father's hair would do the same exact thing if mother didn't insist he keep it trimmed.

"Do you have your things packed?" She repeated.

I nodded numbly and she let out a hiss of annoyance. "Please, Sayik, you have a very nice voice, I'd love to hear it once in a while." She told me, giving me a despairing look as she flipped her long red hair over her shoulder. I merely stared at her in response and her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Go get changed, we're leaving." She told me wearily and I pushed passed her, making a break for the house, limping wildly up the stairs. As soon as I was up the stairs and in my room, I collapsed on the bed and buried my face into the soft pillow, letting out a long, frustrated cry. I didn't want to go to Hogwarts! I didn't want to be around all those people who would point and tease…

"Sayik?" The soft voice of my sister broke into my thoughts and I quickly lifted my head, brushing away the tears as I looked up at her familiar face, so similar to mother's.

Sejyra gave me a concerned look and padded fully into my room, pushing back a strand of her shoulder length, straight orange-tinted hair. I gave her a broad, though obviously fake, smile. She returned it uncertainly. "What's wrong?" She whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I don't want to go." I whispered hoarsely. Sejyra was the only person I would ever talk to. I would never talk to mum, if only to exasperate her, and especially not to father. He would expect me to talk all the time, and I just couldn't handle that. Sejyra at least understood that I just couldn't talk all the time. Mother thought I was being a brat, father just assumed that I had a mental problem.

"I know, but… you can make some friends for once." Sejyra offered, giving me another small smile. I considered this for a moment before suddenly lunging off the bed, startling her as I took her around the waist and spun her around, laughing. I set her down and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"You, are _brilliant, _Sej!" I praised.

She smiled, looking up at me happily. Though she was a little more than four years younger than me, she was still almost as tall, and very quickly growing. Mother always claimed it was because Sejyra was a big girl, but compared to other girls her age, she was actually quite small. It was me. I was tiny because I had been born when mum was so young, and I knew I'd probably get picked on about it at Hogwarts. But any actual friends I might gather there was enough to make me ban all thoughts of bullying.

"Come on!" I grabbed my bag and thundered down the stairs, meeting a very impatient looking mother.

"Ready? About time, come on then." She told us and helped me put my bag in the car. I stared out the window as the small town of Devil's Abode was left behind, along with all manners of my dreary existence. When I got to Hogwarts, I was no longer going to be Sayik Praygun, the boy with no friends. I was going to be Sayik Praygun, the boy with more friends than anyone else. I had high expectations.

I was fidgety through the whole car ride, and as soon as we reached Kings Cross, I was practically bouncing in my seat.

"Calm down, Sayik, Hogwarts'll be there when you get there, you've a whole train ride ahead of you yet!" Even mother's scolding wasn't enough to damper my spirits.

"I wish I could go with you." Sejyra said longingly, staring at me with envy.

I gave her a quick side-hug. "In a couple years." I promised quietly into her ear, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before trying my best at getting my trunk out of the back.

"Hold up, you'll throw your back out, Sayik." Father stopped me with a concerned smile and pushed me aside gently before pulling it out and putting it on a trolley. I pulled out my pet, Cere, and put the very annoyed cat in a cage.

"Just until we get to Hogwarts." I promised the beautiful tomcat quietly. He merely stared at me with his intelligent eyes narrowed, his tail flicking in irritation as he sent me an accusing glare. I ignored him as I pushed the trolley through the porthole between platforms nine and ten, stepping onto platform nine and three quarters.

"All right love." Mother murmured, stooping down to my level and hugging me. "Be good, study hard. I know you'll do great." She told me as she planted a kiss on my pale cheek. I hugged her back quickly, my eyes darting about, taking in every detail.

"Hey! Where you going, you cheeky devil?"

I turned an apologetic glance to father who was glowering at me playfully. I'd almost boarded the train without hugging him goodbye! I blushed, furious he was going to make me hug him in a public place, but I hugged him anyway, not _really_ minding as much as I pretended to. He kneeled down and wrapped his strong, protective arms around me and for a moment, I wondered if I could do it. If I could be strong enough on my own to leave him and mother and Sejyra behind. I couldn't…

"Hey, hey it's alright, owl me, okay?" Father murmured, pushing me back slightly and wiping the hot tears from my cheeks. I nodded and threw my arms around his neck, hugging him tight before quickly moving away. I didn't want to hesitate any more, I needed to go now while I still had the courage to. Wordlessly, I dragged my heavy trunk up into the train and looked around until I found a semi-empty compartment. I hesitated at the door, seeing as it had a girl and a boy my age in it already.

"You can come in. We don't bite!" The piped up, smiling at me. "Well, _I _don't." She giggled, glaring playfully at her companion. I stared at her uncertainly for a moment before reluctantly entering the compartment. I didn't even bother trying to raise my trunk up over my head onto the rack, knowing I had the upper-body strength of a goldfish. I sat down next to the boy, as he was sitting across from the girl.

I studied them in silence for a moment, as they did me.

The girl had long, wavy dark brown, sandy blonde-ish hair and her eyes were a bright blue. She was really quite a lovely thing, with her high cheek bones and pale complexion. I glanced at the boy, who had sandy blonde hair and brown eyes, his face full of freckles.

"I'm Aeverus Zhiazray, first year. And this is my cousin, Jaybin Maburdan. She's a second year." Aeverus offered his hand and I stared at it for a moment before looking back up at him, my face blank. The smile that had been on Aeverus' face vanished. He cleared his throat awkwardly and drew back his hand. "What's your name?" He asked.

I continued staring at him blankly to the point where I knew it made him feel uncomfortable, but my face remained a cold, hard stone, my dark eyes boring into his skull in the most unnerving manner.

Jaybin laughed, a beautiful little melody to my ears and I turned to stare at her, wondering what she found funny. She shook her head, blushing. "Sorry, it's just… you remind me of my uncle." She told me, smiling. I blinked, wishing very much to hear more about said uncle, but not getting the chance as the trolley of sweets came by at that moment.

Both children bought some, but I remained placid in my seat, staring at the old woman pushing the cart until she got the hint and left. I couldn't have sweets, they messed with my blood sugar.

Soon, Jaybin and Aeverus gave up trying to talk to me, and instead conversed back and forth, very much ignoring my silent presence.

"Father says we should move, but I know that would be murder for Grand-Anne, she's so dependent on us ever since grandfather died." Jaybin was saying, chewing on a licorice string. I studied her. She was pretty, with shoulder length curly, dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes. She was also a Slytherin, being that she wore black and green robes.

Aeverus nodded slowly. "I still think you should move, your family's lived in that old dump since our grandparents grandparent's were children, and it's like a ghost town, why is aunt Mirianda so stubborn?" He asked and Jaybin merely shrugged, tucking a loose strand of wavy brown hair behind one ear. I furrowed my brow at the name Mirianda. It sounded familiar. Where had I heard it before?

"_Mother _is so stubborn because it's been her home for so long, and she absolutely refuses to leave grand-Anne there by herself." Jaybin replied.

"But she wouldn't be alone, she still has Sera." Aeverus pointed out, to which I quickly looked up. My cat's name was Cere! (little did I know they were spelled differently, it didn't matter to me either way)

"Sera's only there in the summer, remember? She's still in Hogwarts." Jaybin pointed out.

"Who's Sera?" I asked, startling the two children, who'd grown used to my silence and had probably altogether forgotten my existence.

"She's my aunt." Jaybin replied. "Mum's sister."

"My cat's name is Cere." I told her proudly, inspecting the cat who was curled up in his cage, still glaring at me, one eye open.

"Her actual name is Serenia, but she goes by Sera or Seren a lot." She told me. "Our uncle gave her that nickname."

"Cere's short for Cerenbus, I named him after the war hero Severus Snape's son." I replied, stroking my cat's nose through the bars, pleased to hear him purr in response. "Most people don't know that Snape had a son." I announced proudly. "My mum gave him to me, but he hates her. The little bugger leaves scratches all over her arms whenever she feeds him or tries to pet him."

"So… what's your name?" Aeverus asked awkwardly. I blanched, knowing I'd have to tell him now. If I didn't answer this time, he'd take it personally, as I had just proved that I indeed had a vocal box.

"Sayik." I told him, my face blank.

He smiled briefly. "Surname? Maybe I know of your parents."

I thought for a moment. "Well, my father's last name is Praygun, and my mum's maiden name is Hensul… I really don't know what name to use… I mean, do you use your mother's maiden name if you were born before your parents were married? Or do you just do a mixture of the two? For me it would be Sayik Praysul or Hengun… some ancient magical beings used to do that. That's how there are so many different variations of surnames now-" I blushed, suddenly realizing I'd begun rambling, talking to myself more than anything.

Aeverus and Jaybin were smiling. "Well, I've never heard of either name." Jaybin told me kindly after a moment of hesitation. "But I suppose you should go by your father's last name, since it's your last name too. I don't think anyone goes by their mother's maiden name... or a mixture of the two, for that matter." I could hear the reprove behind the gentleness in her voice, like she thought I was stupid for even thinking such things, but little did she know, I wasn't a black-and-white thinker. I thought of things on a more complex level and saw everything in a rainbow of colors and emotions. Everything had more than one meaning to me, and I was always taking things apart and thinking them through on a higher level. Mother always said I was an over-thinker. I disagreed.

"My dad went to Durmstrang." Aeverus bragged out of the blue after a long, awkward pause.

Jaybin rolled her eyes. "Really, 'Verus? He doesn't care, no one does. Durmgstrang's a joke."

Aeverus scowled at her. "It was a noble school when he went there!" He defended loudly.

"Whatever." Jaybin sighed.

Just then, another girl walked into the compartment. She had long, dark, almost black hair and dark, _dark _navy blue eyes that looked black from a distance. She was wearing blue and black, Ravenclaw colors that flattered her dark eyes, black hair and light skin-tone almost majestically. She was the kind of person that would look like royalty in the color purple or red.

"Aunt Serenia!" Aeverus and Jaybin cried at the same time, jumping up and going to hug the beautiful girl. She smiled and hugged them back.

"Hey guys! I was just sitting with a couple of my friends, and then, I remembered it was your first year, Aeverus! So I came to say hi." She said excitedly, sitting down next to Jaybin. Her eyes moved from Jaybin over to Aeverus and eventually landed on me. The bright smile that had been on her face slowly faded as she stared. I returned the favor, staring at her blankly. "I… uh, guys. Who's that?" She choked out.

Aeverus glanced at me and I flicked my eyes to him, then back to Serenia, who was still openly staring. "He said his name was Sayik Hensul." Aeverus shrugged.

"Praygun." I corrected, my voice soft and smooth, barely above a whisper.

Serenia tensed up, her jaw gaping. She snapped it shut, then opened it a few times as if she wanted to say something. "You, look like… you just… never mind." She shook her head, finally looking away. She smiled ruefully and laughed mirthlessly, still shaking her head and staring at her lap. "No, never mind. So, are you guys excited?" She turned and smiled at Jaybin, pointedly ignoring me as her gaze swept over to Aeverus.

I didn't care, I ignored her as well, staring at my lap, twisting my hands together. I glanced up every so often, usually catching Serenia staring at me, and she would quickly flick her gaze back over to Aeverus.

After the three of them ran out of things to talk about, there was a long, uncomfortable silence that I knew I caused.

"Er… so. Hensul-"

"Praygun."

"What house do you want to get sorted into?" Aeverus ignored my correction.

I thought about it for a moment. "Whichever house my father was in." I decided quietly.

"What's your father's name? Hensul? I thought the only Hensul was a girl, and she was a muggle born." Serenia was staring at me once again.

"There are three Hensul's, actually. My mother, Miriad Hensul, yes, is a muggleborn, and her sisters – my aunts – Dairim and Erjona Hensul are muggles." I replied. "I don't remember what house my father was, I think he was Slytherin, and I believe mum was as well." I saw her tense up again as she stared at me. "What?" I snapped, narrowing my eyes.

_"Y__ou're _Sayik Praygun?!" She glared at me angrily for a moment, shaking her head and clenching her fist. "It's just, you're nothing like I expected... you look so…" She struggled with the right word. "Familiar." She finally decided, scrunching up her nose.

I blinked, wondering where she had heard of me, apathetic amusement clear on my otherwise cold features. "Familiar? I don't recall ever seeing the likes of _you_ before." I told her, pointedly allowing my eyes to roam her body. I smacked my lips slowly before looking back at her face, a sort of smirk playing at my thin, pale lips. It was my personal pleasure to see how uncomfortable my scrutiny made her.

The older girl shifted uncomfortably, blushing. "No, I know. It's just, you remind me of someone." She murmured, looking away again.

"Who?" I demanded, making her flinch as she'd been staring blankly ahead, as If in deep thought.

"My brother." She replied quietly.

"Could I meet him?" I asked, mildly interested. Statistics said that in the world, there were at least seven people who looked similar to you, and everyone had a twin, an absolute look-alike. Perhaps I did as well? It would be interesting to meet someone similar to myself.

She sighed. "I wish you could, but he died almost eleven years ago." She murmured sadly.

"Oh." Was all I could think to say. Well so much for that. Even if I had been able to meet him, he would have looked eleven or more years older than me. After another long moment of silence, I looked back up at her. "Did he have any children?" I asked, tipping my head to the side, not really caring, but for conversations sake. Sejyra _did _suggest I be more talkative if I wanted to make friends.

"No." She murmured, staring at me with a thoughtful expression. "I was only five when he died, I only just barely remember him, but I know him well now, we have a portrait of him in the house… it's not the same though." She sighed.

"Mm." I shifted in the seat, then sighed, slumping slightly.

"Oh. I'm Serenia Snape, by the way." She smiled at me lightly and extended her hand in a delicate manner.

I stared at her, gaping. Snape? I took her outstretched hand and shook it. "Sayik Praygun. Was your father _Severus Snape?_ I've read about him, he's my favorite war hero!" I smiled at remembrance of the man who'd played double agent in the course of the wizarding war that was nothing short of legend. He was my _idol._

She smiled sadly, pulling her hand back and rubbing at it absent-mindedly. "Yes." She replied. "He died in the wizarding war, I was only eleven then." She told me, tilting her head to the side and brushing back some of her long, dark hair. "That's why you surprised me. You have similar personalities…" She smiled ruefully. "He would've liked you..." Something flashed behind her eyes, but she shook it away.

I returned the smile timidly. "Well, the Praygun's and the Snape's are related." I thought for a moment. "We're like, third cousin's once removed or something."

Serenia frowned. "Falin liked doing that too, figuring out how people are related."

I smiled, unsure what to make of how unfriendly she was being. "What year are you in?"

"Sixth." She replied smoothly. I nodded slowly. She looked around that age. I sighed and leaned back on the bench, closing my eyes and letting weariness drag me down into restful slumber.

**POV: Serenia Snape**

Mother and Mirianda had told me about Miriad Hensul and her son, Sayik Praygun. The evil they had made them out to be made me sick to my stomach, and yet... meeting Sayik was such a slap to the face. I hadn't realized how... human he was going to be. I know how silly that sounds, of course he's human, but... the way they talked he might as well have been walking around with devil horns and a tail.

I glanced at him as he slept.

No. He wasn't this evil they had made him out to be. He was just a normal child, that had been dragged into some unfortunate feud between his parents and mine.

None of this was his fault, I realized with a startled jolt. It would have been so much easier to hate him had he been this stuck-up prat they made him out to be. But really, he seemed to not even have a clue who I was, even though I had known about him for years. Considering how sore a subject it was in our home, it did seem to come up quite a lot. I remembered Mirianda had warned me and Jaybin that he would be going to Hogwarts soon, though Jaybin never really took her mother's warning's to heart like I did.

Unfortunately, I had come to hate him more and more the more she spoke of him.

Sighing, I leaned back in my seat, staring at him as he slept. Every time hate managed to wriggle to the surface, I just reminded myself...

_None of this is his fault..._

**AN: Okay, so what do you think of Sayik? I know most of you hate Miriad for what she did to Falin, but you don't hate Sayik, right? I'd appreciate it if you'd leave some reviews. :) **


	3. Year 1 chapter 1

**Chapter three:**

**Grown and Gone**

**POV: Illumine Shalom Snape-Annyver**

_"__And you'll always be perfect, you'll always be beautiful, because there's nothing more beautiful than a smile that's struggled through tears, and you had a lot of those. We'll always miss you, and we'll always love you. Rest forever in peace, my dear brother… Falin Cerenbus Snape." _

_I set a small white rose on his chest, symbolizing his purity, lifting his stiff hand to slide it into his grasp, staring down with a tear streaked face, my eyes red and dry as there were no more tears left. I'd cried myself dry for days after he'd died. I'd known he was going to die. But I'd never realized it would be so soon. He was so young..._

"It's just… it's been ten years! And still I find myself crying about it. I miss him, _so _much…" I whispered, crying into Liaveld's shoulder as he held me.

"He was your brother, you two were very close. It's understandable that you miss him from now and then." Liaveld assured me, his deep voice rumbling in his chest.

"I know… but the therapist says I should be over it by now." I whispered.

"Damn that therapist, love. They say laughter and time are the best healers, but sometimes, you just have to cry it out." He murmured, pressing his lips against my forehead. I smiled up at him sadly. He always knew what to say.

"Thanks Liav." I murmured, pressing my forehead against his and closing my eyes, letting a few tears slip by.

"Mummy?" I looked up at the sound of little feet on the floor and a tiny voice that always brought me joy.

"James! Come here love, mummy needs a hug." I murmured, reaching my arms out to my almost three year old son. James smiled and rushed forward, jumping into my lap, giggling like most three year old's do.

"Why's mummy sad?" He asked after carefully inspecting my features for a moment.

"I just had a memory." I told him.

He sat in silence for a moment, probably putting his little mind to work trying to figure out what I was saying.

"So… it was a bad memwy?" He asked after a moment, not quite pronouncing 'memory' right.

"Yes love, it was a bad memory." I replied, my voice hoarse.

He sat in silence for a moment. "Okay." He finally said and smacked my cheek with his sweet, soft little lips, then giggled and tried to squirm away. I smiled, unable to resist his adorable nature.

"Oh no, you don't kiss me then leave! That's just mean! Come here you!" I cried, snaking my arms around my son as he shrieked with laughter and tried to get away.

"Oh! We got a fighter here!" Liavold started tickling his son while I held him.

James giggled as his daddy picked him up and swung him about before resting him on his hip, holding him with one hand and tickling him with the other.

"Hhehe, no! No daddy! Tickles!" James giggled.

Liavold laughed and set his son down. "Cheeky little thing, I just had to tickle you, and you know it." He told him, ruffling his son's blonde hair. James giggled and curled up next to me, staring up at his father with gleaming eyes and a bright smile on his beautiful little face. He'd gotten his father's eyes, a bright, gleaming blue and his father's blonde hair color.

I smiled and put a hand to my stomach where it was slowly but surely growing, number two on the way. It was a girl, and I simply couldn't wait to have another smiling face. I secretly hoped she would look more like me, as James looked more like his father.

_"Bad _daddy." James giggled, slapping Liavold's leg playfully.

Liavold smirked and ruffled his son's hair again before stooping down and giving me a kiss. "See you, love." He murmured.

"See you." I murmured back, watching my husband as he went down the stairs to get ready for work. He'd be late, since I'd held him up with my crying, and he'd stayed despite me begging him to go to work. He was a wonderful husband.

**POV: Mirianda Perios Snape-Maburdan**

I sighed, smiling as I snuggled up to Koteis. It was quiet in the house with Jaybin gone off to Hogwarts. We had time to ourselves then. It was one of the rare, pleasant moments where we weren't arguing at all, and I was relishing every second of it.

"Mm, it's so nice and peaceful." I murmured, closing my eyes. I felt him put his arm around me and kiss the top of my head.

"I don't know." He murmured. "I think I'm going to miss that little trouble-maker." He said playfully.

I laughed. "Admit it, we're both bad parents. We both relish the quiet." I told him, leaning back and smiling at him.

"Never. I'm on her side in every argument, you know that." He told me with his devilish grin.

I smacked his arm. "Prat." I growled at him playfully and he smirked, snaking his arms around me and kissing me. I smiled and kissed him back, glad we had a whole day together before we both had to start back at work.

**POV: Kelly Iosi Evers-List**

"Eloise! Darling, it's time to go to school!" I called up to my daughter.

I heard her exasperated sigh as she plodded from her room. "But muuuuum." She whined.

"Hush, everyone has to go to school." I told the whiney eight year old. She glowered at me, but made no attempts to hinder my efforts of getting her ready. We were out the door in less than five minutes and at the school in less than ten.

"I wish you let me take the bus like normal kids." She grumbled, leaning forward so she could hug me from the back seat.

"I know, but it's safer this way. I don't want anything to happen to you, love." I told her, hugging her back.

"I wish I could go to Hogwarts like Jaybin and Aeverus. And James'll get to go when he's old enough. It's the safest place ever." She sighed, staring at me pleadingly.

"Sorry love, you're not a witch." I told her sympathetically and she nodded. "Love you." I told her as she got out. I heard something that faintly resembled a 'love you' thrown over her shoulder as she jumped out and slammed the car door, racing up the sidewalk and into the building. I sighed as I watched her go before pulling out of the driveway, heading off to the law office to sign the divorce papers with my soon-to-be ex-husband, Ian.

Heaven knows I had tried to save our marriage, but every time Ian went out, I just couldn't trust that he was actually going to work like he said he was. I remembered all too well the day the law-man had shown up at our beautiful home in Dawnsbrook and told me that the bank would be foreclosing our house if we didn't start making payments. I had never been the one to pay the bills, Ian had always insisted he'd had it under control, and… I admit I enjoyed not having to worry about it.

But as it turned out, Ian had stopped going to work at all two years ago, and instead had begun sleeping around and going to bars to gamble. After the money in the bank ran out,and everything was out in the open, he'd tried to pin it on me in the courtroom, but the judge had clearly seen that Ian was to blame.

And so, I was granted full custody of our daughter, Eloise, and was now living in a one-room apartment and working two jobs to pay for food and rent. Ian would most likely disappear off the maps as soon as the whole mess was cleared, so I probably wouldn't be receiving the alimony checks he had agreed to send to help me care for Eloise.

The entire adversity was putting a strain on my relationship with Eloise, because as far as the eight-year-old was concerned, I was the bad guy in the entire situation. She had always been much closer to her father than she'd ever been with me. And yet another reason to hate Ian.

I just couldn't understand how ten years of being together could be just tossed in the rubbish after two careless years on his part. It was such a waste.

Sighing, I readied myself for a long, heated argument before parking the car and going inside the law office.

**POV: Susan Claire Evers-Wills**

"Merlin, come on sweetie!" I called my son. After a few moments of tired moaning coming from upstairs, Merlin finally started plodding down the stairs, his eyes sleepy. I smiled. "Come on." The little five year old took my outstretched hand and came down the last three steps. "David! You too now!" I called, and a moment later, my husband showed his face, just as sleepy looking as his son.

I smiled, taking his hand too and walking them down into the kitchen. "It's the first day of school." I told Merlin, who nodded tiredly, too sleepy to react positively or negatively to my words. Merlin yawned, leaning his chin on his fist, his little head nodding forward slowly, slowly, slowly and… SPLAT. Face first right into the scrambled eggs.

I sighed, glancing at my husband who looked ready to share the same fate. It was going to be a long day.

**AN: So, just a little POV's from everyone to show a little glimpse into their lives now that they're grown and have families of their own. Hehe, that rhymed. ^.^ Please review? **

**DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE MIGHTY SLYTHERINS WIKIA! IF YOU EVER WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT A CHARACTER IN MY STORIES, YOU CAN FIND IT ALL ON THERE!**


	4. Year 1: Chapter 2

**Chapter four:**

**Fitting In Vs. Sticking Out**

**POV: Sayik Cryptic Eden Praygun**

"SLYTHERIN!" The sorting hat's voice screeched, making me flinch. I stood shakily to my feet, decidedly nervous from the feeling of all eyes on me. I kept my eyes glued to nothing in particular up towards the ceiling as I tried my best at climbing down the step without tripping, my body a rigid statue. Aeverus saved me from hitting the ground when I _did _trip, but I was still red-faced when I stiffly sat down at the Slytherin table.

I heard a few mutterings on all sides of me, most consisting of _'he's_ made it into Slytherin?' and 'You've got to be joking!' I ignored the comments as best I could, keeping my mind blank as I stared at whatever was directly in front of my eyes. It took me a moment to realize I was staring right at some_one _not some_thing, _and she was glaring back. I swallowed hard, looking awkwardly down at my plate, my mind racing.

"Alright?" I looked up to see Aeverus standing there shyly, smiling. I positively beamed at the familiar face, scooting over so he could sit next to me but he only shook his head. "I made it into Ravenclaw, I just… wanted to make sure you were settled in." He murmured awkwardly, staring at the floor. Words could not describe the disappointment that raged through me, and the look I gave him must have made him feel guilty, because he shuffled away quickly and I stared despondently after him, ready to give up on life even after the first hour of being at Hogwarts.

I slumped forward, no longer caring if I drew attention to myself. It didn't matter anymore. I closed my eyes and leaned my head on my arms, hiding behind the curtain of hair that fell in the way. For a while as I sat there, I convinced myself it would be like in the muggle movies. –I would sit there, looking pitiful, and any moment, I would feel a gentle hand on my shoulder. It would startle me and I would look up into the gentle, apologetic eyes of a beautiful girl to be my future girlfriend, or at least the eyes of my future best friend. They would ask me if I was alright, and, though I would insist that I was, they would sit with me anyway and make me feel better, convincing me life wasn't all that bad. But I never felt any touch. If anyone noticed me, they didn't care.

I huddled up inside myself even further, wishing I could hide in one of the big sleeves of my wizarding robes, but I knew that wouldn't work. Not only would the sleeves have to be ridiculously large, but they would also have to make me shrink so no one would notice a huge lump of robes that suspiciously resembled a human.

I sighed, silently scolding my imagination for not even being able to over-power my deductive reasoning. It was pathetic.

I glared listlessly at the food that appeared before me, not feeling much like eating any of it, my nose just barely peeking over my folded arms, my hair covering my eyes enough that it was difficult to see through. However difficult, I was not about to move from the comfortably numb position I was in to brush it from my eyes. Besides, the less I saw, the better. I didn't want to see all the stares being sent my way, I didn't want to see the glances of pity, or the scornful sneers. I just wanted to pretend they weren't there.

Because for the time being, pretending was the only thing that could get me through the rest of the year.

**POV: Jaybin Dynil Maburdan**

I glanced down the table, staring at where the first-years sat. From where I sat, on the far end of the bench with the other second years, I couldn't see Praygun at all.

I sighed, leaning back a little, still admittedly trying to catch a glimpse of him, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't see him.

"Hey Maburdan." I looked up to see Rayph Zhiazray the second, Aeverus' older brother. "Move over, pipsqueak." The third year growled to my friend who had been sitting next to me before Rayph ungraciously shoved himself between us.

I rolled my eyes. "Rayph, what the hell do you want?" Safe to say we weren't fond of each other. It was weird because I was best friends with his brother, _and _he was my cousin. We spent a lot of time together, and that just fueled the arguments.

"I just wanted to let you know, curly-top, that you could sit with me and the third-years if you ever needed to."

I was so surprised by the genuine look of concern he gave me that it gave me pause. "W-what? Why?" I managed, suddenly suspicious.

He glared down at the table for a moment, obviously contemplating telling me something. Finally, he nodded towards the third-years side of the Slytherin table. "See him? That's Karson Danisk. And it's safe to say he's fucked every girl from second to seventh year, and he's gonna do all the new first years, too. And the second years that he's missed… like you. I heard him talking about it."

I paled considerably for a moment. "That's revolting!" I hissed. "He's only thirteen!" My eyes widened and I shook my head quickly, sinking into my seat.

"I just wanted to warn you… you know. You may want to warn your friends. Oh…" he coughed, obviously uncomfortable. "-and warn your male friends too… Danisk is bisexual." With that, he stood and left, leaving me blushing in my seat.

"I'm sure he's just messing with your head, Jay. Danisk has never done anything like that to me." My friend Maria told me.

I smiled at her and nodded, though I knew why Danisk hadn't 'done' anything like that with her. She wasn't classically pretty… at all. But she was smart and sweet and she was my friend. I glanced at the other second year girls who had overheard and couldn't help but notice how sullen they had become.

A new wave of unease swept over me and I set down the food I had been previously eating. "Disgusting." I muttered, standing and leaving the great hall, ignoring Maria's clueless comment about how the food was not disgusting at all.

**POV: Aeverus Zhiazray**

"Jay! Wait up! Jay!" I called, trying to keep up with Jaybin's purposeful strides as she left the great hall, heading towards the bathrooms. "Jay! Jaybin!" I cried, but she didn't slow down. Muttering obscenities, I took a sharp turn down another hall and sped up, managing to cut her off at the pass. "Jaybin Dynil Maburdan, what the hell is wrong with you?" I cried, putting my hands on her shoulders.

She glared up at me, shrugging my hands off. I was a year younger than her, but I was tall for my age. She was catching up, though.

"Bugger off, Zhiazray." She muttered and I paused. She only ever called me 'Zhiazray' when she was really pissed off.

"What did Rayph do? I saw him come over and sit with you! What did he say?" I cried, following her as she continued towards the bathroom.

"He was being himself, Aeverus, I can hardly condemn him for his actions." She replied, not slowing down.

"But what did he say?" I persisted. He was my brother after all, and Jaybin was my best friend. I would pound him into the ground if he hurt her.

"He tried to scare me and the other girls by saying that some kid in his year... Karson Danisk is raping all of the first years and second years, and that I'm one of his next targets." She hissed, obviously furious.

"What?" I spat, glad she had stopped running away from me. "Well... is it true?" I asked uncomfortably. It was only my first year, I had not a clue who Karson Danisk was, nor did I know what he was like... or if he was indeed capable of such a repulsive act.

Jaybin furrowed her brow. "I don't know." She finally sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Rayph, for once seemed genuinely concerned... like he cared about me." Her face hardened and she shook her head, her curly hair flying around her head. "No, I don't think it's true."

"Jay, you know he cares about us, even though he threatens us with bodily harm every five minutes." I tried to make her laugh, but her scowl only deepened. I sobered immediately. "Well now I'm concerned about you too, Jay. That sounds like some sick shit that some third year prat would pull."

She stopped again, staring at me. "You really think it's true?" I saw fear flash behind her eyes.

I instantly moved towards her, putting a protective arm around her shoulders. "Even if it is, I won't let him touch you." I told her with feeling.

She smiled at me for a moment, then glared at my arm. "If you're trying to hug me, I'll fucking backhand you." She told me, shrugging my arm off.

"I wasn't going to hug you, wanker." I smirked, glad we were back to our playful insults.

"To right you weren't." She muttered over her shoulder. "Now bugger off, I really do need to use the loo."

**POV: Sayik Cryptic Eden Praygun**

"Hey, who've we got here?" I looked up, startled at the sound of a boy's voice. For the remainder of that first day, I had been avoiding human contact like the plague, and, looking up from the book I'd been reading in a quiet corner of the Slytherin common room, I wondered who had taken an interest enough to come within ten feet of me.

Upon seeing the faces of not one, but _two _boys, my heart sank. Surely life wasn't so good here at Hogwarts for one like myself to make so many friends so quickly and easily? Surely there was an ulterior motive behind their approach? After carefully scrutinizing their facial expressions, I concluded that they hadn't singled me out just for some friendly chitchat.

I closed the book carefully, taking great mind that I didn't crease any of the old pages. I set it down and smoothed my robe out some, my knees still pulled protectively to my chest as I stared at them expectantly. Were they just going to sit there all night, or did they have something to say? I suddenly realized, after several long seconds of staring that it was down to a test of fortitude. They were challenging me to see who could sit longest without batting an eyelid, or twitching a muscle.

I accepted.

Patience and tranquility were my strong points, and I silently wondered how long it would be before one of the two boys could no longer take the silence without having to break it out of the mere itch and burn of stillness. The itch was familiar to me. All too familiar. I felt like a young child again, sitting in my room, staring blankly at a wall, feeling the tingling, gnawing, itching, burning sensation of boredom, begging my every muscle to twitch, my every vocal cord to scream, to do something to break the maddening stillness, the suffocating silence. And yet, I remained placid, my body relaxed and completely still, my breathing so shallow one would never know I was alive, my eyes unfocused so I wouldn't have to blink, my mind comfortably empty of all thoughts but peace. Peace, peace…. I kept chanting that in my mind. Peace, peace, peace…

Finally, after a good two minutes or so, according to my inner clock, one of the two boys could no longer take the stillness and erupted into loud shrieks that startled the other boy so much he let out a girly shriek as well. Both boys scrambled to their feet and stumbled away from me as fast as they could, babbling about how I was a crazy monk who was so overly-emotionless it was unbelievable and so on. During the excitement, I merely picked up my book and began reading again, filtering out their irrelevant chatter. I had more important things to concern myself with, such as the matters in the book, telling fascinating stories about Severus Snape, and Harry Potter and other war heroes before my time.

**AN: Lol. I think Sayik's cool. Don't you? I'd love your reviews! ****Please keep in mind that I DO NOT update until I get at least one review!**

**As always, if you have questions about the characters, visit The Mighty Slytherins Wikia!**


	5. Year 1: Chapter 3

**Chapter five:**

**Stecks Almighty**

**POV: Sayik Cryptic Eden Praygun**

"If I die from whatever shit your brother decides to spike my drink with tonight, I'm going to haunt you forever." Jaybin snapped, glaring a hole in Aeverus' head, poking him hard in the ribs. He had just invited her to join him and his friends for a midnight gathering in the room of requirement, and I happened to be hanging around her, as I had been for the past couple days, standing awkwardly behind her as I was most certain I would not be invited.

Aeverus smirked, rubbing his sore side. "You are far more likely to die from what will most likely be a very boring conversation, or by being completely disgusted by some show of affection between him and his girlfriend who will undoubtedly be at his side the entire time." Aeverus told her with a wink. "And then I will probably have suffered the same fate and we can haunt together."

I couldn't help but smile at the two of them as they argued.

"Fine." Jaybin snapped. "Lord only knows Rayph only invited me because you're here this year. I'll join you and your friends just for tonight. And because you're my cousin, I'll even try to be nice."

Aeverus let out a short laugh, leaning on the wall behind him. "How very generous of you, Jay. And you're sure it's because I'm your cousin, and has nothing to do with the fact that I'm your best friend?" He smirked at her.

Jaybin scoffed. "You're such an egotistical prat." She growled. "Honestly; assuming just because I spend more time with you than anyone else in the world that you're my best friend. Bugger off, wanker."

Aeverus laughed, throwing an arm over her shoulder and knuckling her head, making her shriek in protest as he messed up her hair. "And you're coming too, of course, right Praygun?" he smiled at me, releasing his disgruntled cousin.

I felt my cheeks flush. "Oh um… okay." I had never been invited to join a friend for a gathering before! I shuffled nervously, glancing about the crowded halls as dinner was over and everyone was heading back to their dorms.

Aeverus smirked and clapped me on the back. "Great. Meet us at the room of requirement tonight at eleven, and for the love of your supposed Slytherin cunning, _don't get caught!"_

…

"PSST! Hey, Praygun!" I froze in my spot, looking around the dark halls nervously. Had I already been caught? I had just sneaked out though, how could I have been caught so easily?

I slowly turned around to see Jaybin Maburdan hiding behind one of the many statues in the long hall, gesturing wildly for me to join her. I glanced around before limping rapidly to her side as quietly as possible.

"Hey!" She hissed, poking me hard in the ribs, making me have to stifle a squeak. "Are you _trying _to get caught?" Her blue eyes flashed at me dangerously in the dark.

I rubbed my sore side. "Sorry, I've never exactly done anything like this before." I whispered.

She sighed, staring at me. She took out her wand and cast a muffling charm over my trainers. I would have done it myself but… Charms class wasn't exactly my strong suit. "Well... stick close." She told me after a moment. I nodded and followed her as she crept out from behind the statue. We walked like that for a good long way, creeping, hiding, almost getting caught, but we did finally make it to our destination.

"What are you doing?" I asked as she began pacing.

"SHH." She hissed, still pacing back and forth. I glanced around nervously. While she was busy marching up and down the hall, we could get caught at any moment! When I looked back, to my amazement, a door had appeared out of nowhere on the wall that had been empty previously.

"Come on." She grabbed my arm and pulled me over, opening the door a crack. "Is it safe to come in?" She asked in a mock-apprehensive tone as she poked her head around the corner. I also poked my head around the corner to see a big, cozy looking room with many comfortable couches and other students surrounding a fireplace.

A boy who looked a lot like Aeverus rolled his eyes. "It might have been wise to wait for my answer to that question before presenting your head as a target." He broke out into a grin. "Come on in, we were just about to play twister. It's a game that involves me twisting your neck until it snaps. We could also play snap. It has similar rules."

Jaybin rolled her eyes and stepped in the room, looking beautiful as ever; the light from the flickering fire casting over her hair and making it seem an almost crimson color with black highlights, dressed in a casual red dress. I hadn't gotten a good look at her in the dark halls. My breath caught in my throat as I closed the door behind me, my eyes glued on her as I followed her into the room. I was quite glad when everyone seemed oblivious to my staring, or at least smart enough to not comment on it as I sat down quietly next to her.

"Nice dress, Jaybin; is Slytherin reforming? Are their colors red like Gryffindor now?" The boy that looked like Aeverus smirked.

Jaybin rolled her eyes, leaning back comfortably in her seat. "So, Aeverus, Rayph, are you going to introduce us to your friends?" She smirked at who I assumed was Rayph and he smiled back, a beautiful light haired girl on his arm.

"This is Aneilia, my girlfriend." He replied casually and the blonde giggled. "That's Belensei, and Grafi." He pointed carelessly to two Gryffindors who sat on another couch. "Candy, Feer and Lapis." He pointed to a Hufflepuff and two Ravenclaws on another couch beside ours. "And then, Jaybin and her boyfriend." He pointed to us. "And of course, Dauben-Staves." He pointed to a little Slytherin girl I hadn't noticed before. She had just suddenly appeared to my left.

I blinked, shifting uncomfortably as Rayph's words sank in.

Jaybin scowled. "He's not my boyfriend, Rayph, you insolent prick!" She spat. Wow, they really didn't like each other, did they? I had to hide a smile behind a yawn.

"So, everyone introduce themselves properly so everyone knows each other's names, I'll start. I'm Rayph Zhiazray." He introduced himself.

"I'm Aneilia Fraude." There were several snorts of amusement around the room and she frowned. "No, I am no fraud, you cheeky bastards, my last name is Fraude." She rolled her eyes, leaning back sulkily against her boyfriend.

"Fraud." One of them said behind a cough and everyone chuckled, with exception of Aneilia.

One of the Gryffindors cleared his throat and spoke up before an argument could get started. "I'm Marcus Belensei." He told everyone in a very thick Irish accent that was both endearing and annoying. I studied him for a moment. He had short brown hair and bright green eyes. Nothing interesting.

"I'm Reini Grafi." The girl beside him spoke up, her voice so soft I could barely hear her. She sounded foreign, speaking with a fluid accent I had never heard before, though I assumed it was French. She had bright, amber colored eyes that I found to be stunning, her shoulder length auburn hair making her picturesque.

"Uhm, I'm Candace Calfardy, but, uhm, you can call me Candy." The Hufflepuff spoke up, her face a bright pink. She had curly, chocolate brown hair with a slight tan and the same colored eyes as her hair. I found her rather bland.

"I'm Feer Seindi." The Ravenclaw boy spoke up. He had dark hair and small, dark eyes, his skin the only light thing about him. He looked Asian.

"I am Lapis Lazuli Gypsum." The Ravenclaw girl spoke up. She too looked Asian, though it was clear the two were not related.

"Wait, you're a _Gypsum?" _Jaybin cried.

"Yes, actually I'm a direct descendant of Silver and Gold Gypsum." Lapis replied calmly.

"Who?" I asked, confused.

Jaybin spun to face me, her long hair snapping in my face in the process. "Silver and Gold Gypsum? They're only _thee _oldest wizard family ever! They're related to every known wizard and are called the mother and father of the earth! They're like the Adam and Eve of the wizarding world. Without them, there would be no 'us.'" She stated.

I raised my eyebrows, staring at Lapis in awe for a moment. "Ace." Was the only thing that came to mind, making several of the other students chuckle.

"Well, now that we've established that… I'm Jaybin Maburdan." Jaybin offered after a moment of silence. My heart quickened. I was next! All eyes turned to me.

"Um, my name is Sayik Praygun." I murmured, staring at the floor. All eyes moved away from me and everyone began talking again, but I remained quiet. I took a deep breath to calm myself, knowing I was being irrationally emotional, and had every intention of blaming it on preteen hormones, but that did nothing to make me feel less tense and on edge.

"I'm Yierra Dauben-Staves." The Slytherin girl next to me spoke up. I stared at her for a long moment, eyes wide. She was absolutely gorgeous, and it was at that instant that I knew she must be at least part-Veela. No normal eleven year-old could possibly be that attractive. Other than Jaybin of course… I blushed again.

"And _I, _am Aeverus Zhiazray!" Aeverus announced importantly and everyone turned to glare daggers at him.

"Everyone knows who _you _are, Zhiazray." Feer Seindi sighed, rolling his stunning dark eyes.

There were dark chuckles around the room.

"Yeah, your brother gave you a reputation before you even started coming to school." Marcus Belensei laughed, his thick Irish accent making his words hard to understand at times.

Aeverus shoved Rayph's shoulder. "What shit have you been telling the school about me?" He cried.

Rayph laughed, smirking at his brother. "Nothing too bad, I assure you." He smiled innocently.

"Oh I'm sure." Aeverus grumbled, crossing his arms and looking away.

Feer turned to me at one point and started up a conversation which I tried to keep up with. He was a little barmy, to be honest and at most times I had absolutely no clue what he was talking about, so I just smiled and nodded most of the time.

"You're Korean, right? You look Korean."

"I'm not Korean."

"Are you Asian?"

"I'm not Asian either."

"Hmm." He narrowed his small eyes at me, then shrugged. "I mean, you gotta be one to know one, and I'm half Asian, and I swear to God, you look Asian."

I laughed, shaking my head. "I'm not."

"You sure?"

"I'm not!" I giggled. "I swear, I'm not."

He kept prodding me about it at random times through our conversation, though I always denied it. I wasn't Asian.

After a while, he turned to his other friends and started talking with them, leaving me to sit awkwardly beside Jaybin, who laughed and talked to the others beside her.

**POV: Jaybin Maburdan**

"Did you hear? Cassius Fontayne came to Hogwarts this year." Anelia Fraude suddenly whispered, leaning forward.

Everyone grew oddly silent. I perked my ears, interested.

"So what?" Sayik snapped.

Everyone turned to him.

"'So what' my arse!" Anelia hissed. "Didn't you know? He's a… _Vampire." _She whispered the word, looking around cautiously as if the mere mention of the word would bring the boy into the room.

Sayik clamped his jaw shut and sunk into the seat a little more, tense and on edge.

"What's the matter?" I tried to ask confidentially, but everyone seemed to hear since the room had grown so quiet.

"It's just-" He stuttered. "He's my… cousin." He blanched as several students gasped.

_"__Cousin!" _Anelia gasped, leaning back as if Sayik would infect her somehow.

"He's not even a full-blooded Vampire. His father married my mum's sister, who is a muggle. When muggle blood mixes with Vampire blood, it makes their bite less potent…. And _his _father's mother was a normal Witch… he comes from a line of Vampire males, not females. And it's well-known fact that the blood becomes diluted eventually if the males mix with human females long enough. His child will most-likely not be a Vampire at all."

I raised my eyebrows, finding very flawed logic in Sayik's words. Either that or he was a compulsive liar and a bloody good one.

"That's bullshit and you know it." Anelia snapped.

"Can it, lipstick." Sayik snapped and I gulped down a giggle. He usually wasn't that bold.

"Did you know that Cassius Fontayne's grandmother is Mistral Wesia… more commonly known as Mistral Malfoy?" Candace Calfardy murmured.

"As in Lucius Malfoy's sister? I thought she died _years _ago." Yierra glared at the witch.

"No, actually she just disappeared from the maps for a while… it was assumed that she fled the country because her family disowned her, but apparently she's made a re-appearance."

"I didn't even know Lucius Malfoy _had _a sister."

"Who's Lucius Malfoy?" I piped up, causing Sayik to spin to face me, eyes wide.

_"__I know something you don't?" _He cried.

I shook my head and shrugged meekly.

Rolling his eyes, Sayik turned in his seat so he was facing me and took a long breath. "First of all, do you know who Draco Malfoy is?"

"No."

"Damn you, Maburdan, did your parents teach you nothing about your History?" He cried.

I shrugged helplessly. "My mum and my dad don't care about anything but medicine… neither of them got much of an education outside of medical science…" I admitted. _They had to take care of me. _I thought guiltily, though it was _their _fault I was conceived.

Sayik sighed. "Well… they were Death Eaters in the Second Wizarding war. You're fond of that era, if I'm not mistaken?"

I nodded excitedly. "Yes, but I fancy the light side. I only know a handful about Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

"Well, Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater, and then he tried to make his son become one as well, and it was all just one big, jumbled cock-up. Draco Malfoy lives just outside the Forbidden Forest now… he's actually really close to Hogwarts." He added without need, though he did pride himself in his vast knowledge. "The Malfoy's lost a great bit of cachet in the course of the Wizarding War, but they have slowly gained it back over the years. Don't worry, Headmaster McGonagall would never allow Cassius to come here if he were dangerous."

"Oh."

He had probably given Aneilia more information than she cared to know, but she looked pacified.,for the time being at least. If the need arose for him to defend his cousin once again, I had no doubt that he wouldn't hesitate in the slightest.

**POV: Sayik Cryptic Eden Praygun**

Several hours of truly boring conversation followed, in which case, well over half the others had ditched us with the excuse of wanting to get some sleep. It was now down to me, Rayph, Jaybin and Aeverus, and I was feeling more than a little out of place, as the three of them had obviously known each other their whole lives.

"I don't understand why you can't just talk to him about it now!" Rayph cried.

"Oh my money!" Aeverus rolled his eyes.

"Don't you mean 'God'?" Jaybin corrected.

"You worship your thing and I'll worship mine."

Jaybin smacked her forehead.

I sighed, resting my chin on my fist, leaning my elbow on the side of the couch. I was so bored and tired, I was completely uninterested in their argument. I hadn't even heard the first half of it and had no idea what it was about.

"In answer to your question; I don't think Aeverus would enjoy being in the same room as that conversation."

"I don't enjoy being in the same room as _this _conversation." Aeverus grumbled.

Rayph rounded on him. "Don't tell me you're taking _her _side?"

Aeverus groaned. "Do _not _make me pick sides."

"GET THE HELL OUT NOW!" Rayph screamed before lowering his voice to a deadly calm. "Or I will see to it that you have to inform mother that you are now tragically incapable of producing an heir."

Aeverus' eyes widened farther than I thought possible, squeezing his legs together. "Why are you trying to help her, you hate her!" He cried.

"Go on! GIT!" Rayph growled, ignoring the question and standing up threateningly over his little brother.

Aeverus yelped and made a mad dash for the door, slamming his face into the doorframe in his haste and letting out a pained moan before scrambling to his feet and flying out, slamming the door behind him.

I couldn't help it, I laughed. I let out a long, hearty laugh, clutching my stomach, my pale face probably turning a merry pink.

I heard Jaybin giggle beside me and I managed to open my eyes long enough to see her staring at me, her eyes dancing with laughter. I had to squeeze my eyes shut and double over, clutching my stomach. I had never laughed this hard before. In all actuality, I had hardly ever laughed _at all_ before, and it hurt. It hurt really bad, but it felt _amazing._

I coughed, trying to calm down, shaking my head and grinning, wiping tears from the corners of my eyes.

"Night guys, I'm tired." Rayph mumbled, yawning.

"Night." Jaybin and I said at the same time, me with a little difficulty as I was still struggling to get my breath back from the laughing fit.

Rayph came and leaned down in front of Jaybin, so that his face was unnecessarily close to hers. She leaned back, glaring at him.

"Remember what I said." He murmured. He waited for her to nod before he flicked his gaze briefly to me, then turned back to her, giving her a pointed look before standing and walking away.

I had become completely sober by the time he stepped out the door.

Jaybin sighed. "We should be getting back too." She murmured. Neither of us moved. We were completely content to sit there in the warmth of the cozy room, staring at the flames in the fireplace.

We talked quietly for a little while, discussing her friends.

"On the days he doesn't claim to _be _God, he claims to at least know him on an inter-personal level." She rolled her eyes, referring to Rayph. "He's such a pain in the arse." She sighed, sinking more deeply into the couch.

I smiled, nodding and staring at the fire.

"And then Feer…" She shook her head, a grin slowly slipping onto her face. "He's barmy."

"I noticed." I laughed.

"Damn, it's late." Jaybin swore, glancing at her watch. She sighed. "We should get to bed." Jaybin sighed again. "Come on." She slapped my knee as she stood and stretched, making me blush, then offered me her hand. I blushed again and took it, letting her help me stand. I stared up at her as we stood there for a moment. "How old are you?" She asked after a moment.

"Eleven." I replied.

She furrowed her brow, stretching up to her full height in front of me. She was almost four inches taller, as the top of my head only reached just above her eyes. In my defense, she was pretty tall, and the heels on her shoes were _at least _a millimeter thick. "Oh. I'm only twelve. You're small." She informed me without need.

I scowled, standing up as straight as I could. She still towered over me. "Are we going to stand here all night, discussing the triviality of my physical stature in relation to my age, or are we going to go to bed? Tomorrow's a school day, you know." I glared up at her, puffing out my chest as best I could.

She smiled, obviously amused by my eloquence as well as my efforts to look bigger. "Sure, come on." She replied, leading the way out of the room. I followed her and we walked in silence all the way back to the Slytherin common room, where we parted ways with awkward biddings of goodnight before going up to our own dorms.

**AN: This is kinda just a filer chapter... hope you liked it anyways. **

**Pinkwood17: your character was in this chapter! Did you spot her? :p**


	6. Year 1: Chapter 4

**Chapter six:**

**The Fontayne Scenario**

**POV: Jaybin Dynil Maburdan**

"Look." Rayph hissed, jabbing me in the ribs with his elbow. I flinched and looked in the direction he was not-so-subtly pointing. I glanced over at the first year's side of the table, where Cassius Fontayne and Sayik Praygun easily conversed, both smiling.I couldn't help but notice that they had a whole bench to themselves, all the other first year students were squished together on either side of them, trying to keep as far away as possible, whereas Sayik sat right next to Cassius, completely unfazed.

"So?" I replied, looking back at Rayph. Even though I hated him with feeling, I had eventually taken up his offer of sitting with him and the other third years. I would have loved to sit with Aeverus, Lapis, Feer, Reini, Marcus and Candy, but they were all in Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, respectively.

"'So?'" Rayph echoed, glaring at me. "Fontayne is stealing your boyfriend. Go… do something about it."

I glared at him indignantly. "Praygun is _not _my boyfriend, and even if he were; Fontayne is Praygun's _cousin."_

He shrugged, digging into his meal greedily. "People've done sicker things." He mumbled around a mouthful.

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed my food and moved down the table, plopping down on the completely empty bench across from the two boys, who were laughing about something I'd missed. I heard Cassius talk to Sayik for a moment, and he sounded like he had a sort of lisp, and I knew it must be because of his part-Vampires usually had trouble talking around their growing fangs. By the time they were adults, they usually sounded normal, if not a bit snake-like.

"Hello, boys." I murmured, digging into my food, not looking at them.

"Hi." Sayik murmured shyly, and Cassius only stared at his plate, suddenly rather subdued. I studied him for a moment, chewing solemnly. He could have easily passed for a Malfoy – silver hair, bluish gray eyes. The little fangs that were visible when he smiled were the only telltale signs. The only reason I _knew _what the Malfoy's looked like was because I had spent the past couple days in the library, researching their family. I had to admit, they had me intrigued.

"So…" I murmured into the awkward silence. "What are you talking about?"

"Mm, Cassius was just telling me about how aunt Erjona and uncle Mardon are going to move to Devil's Abode so they can be near us, and he said that-"

"Wait, Devil's Abode?" I clarified, interrupting him.

"Yeah?"

"I live there!" I cried.

"No way! I live there too! It's a ghost town." He replied, finally paying me full attention.

"I know! I've lived there my whole life!" I laughed. "I thought we were the last ones left."

"That's weird that we don't run into each other." He muttered after a moment.

"Hmm." I agreed quietly, glancing at Cassius, who was just fiddling with his food. I noticed he ate mostly normal food, though he did have a cup of suspiciously red liquid that I knew must be blood. He was still a Vampire, after all. And I knew Aneilia would walk all over me for sitting with him at lunch, but I really didn't give a shit about what she thought. She could go choke up a chainsaw for all the fucks I gave.

Lunch ended at that moment, and the two boys couldn't seem to get away from me fast enough.

"Wait, Sayik! Meet with us again tonight…. Bring Fontayne." I told him as a last minute brainchild before he managed to rush off with a hasty nod and a slight blush to his otherwise pale cheeks.

**POV: Cassius Mardon Fontayne**

_"__Look."_

"No, don't look at it!"

"Careful, he's coming this way."

_"__Shh_, don't let him hear you!"

I tried…. Heavens gates knew I tried my hardest to ignore the whispers, the stares… but everywhere I went, there they were, ready to point, whisper and fear. I knew they feared me, otherwise they would bully me, but the whispers were enough to make me feel detached from everyone else. I felt so secluded, and most certainly alone. That's why I had been surprised when Sayik had worked up the courage to sit with me. Even Eiran always avoided me when I was home.

Sayik and I were very close, but even so, I would have thought he would have tried to avoid me just to go with the crowd. I obviously should have known better. Sayik wasn't one to follow the flow. He always liked to wipe the floor with the general order of things.

I desperately tried to ignore the lonely tug and pull at my heart as I walked through the hallways and the crowd parted, lest anyone be touched and infected by me.

Just two years ago, a law was passed so that half-human beings such as Part-Vampires and Werewolves could go to public schools and private schools like Hogwarts without any hassle. Father was rather jealous, as he had wanted to go desperately when he was my age. I could care less, honestly, as I had absolutely no friends other than Sayik and the girl that was constantly hanging around him.

And now, I found myself sneaking out at night with him and Maburdan, going to some sort of meeting. I had no clue why I had been invited, nor was I under the impression that I would have a good time.

"Keep up, Cassi." Sayik whispered, grabbing my hand and pulling me forward.

I let out an annoyed hiss, but as usual, he ignored my irritation. He knew I became irate rather effortlessly. He had to be careful sometimes when he playfully teased me, because if I took him seriously, he would have a pissed-off Part-Vampire lunging for his throat. I had only ever bitten him once, and it had only been an accidental brush of fang against skin when we were very little. Consequently, Sayik had Vampire traits now, but they were very faint. I wasn't even sure if his parents ever found out about it.

"In here." Maburdan and Sayik went in ahead of me and I followed uncertainly, eyes widening when I saw the room was full of laughing children from all houses.

I shuffled uncomfortably behind Sayik, sitting between him and Maburdan. I couldn't help but notice, as always, that everyone grew quiet and several none-too-friendly glances were shot my way.

"Guys, this is my cousin, Cassius." Sayik introduced importantly.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" One girl cried brashly, paling several shades.

"Aneilia, watch your fucking language." The boy next to her reproved, a hypocrite for his own words.

"Shut up, the both of you, you're embarrassing yourselves." Maburdan growled. She turned and put an arm around my shoulders and Sayik smiled and patted my arm encouragingly. "This is Cassius Fontayne. He's part of our group now. Everyone introduce yourselves!"

Obvious reluctance dragged the introduction to a halt before it even started.

"Rayph, you always go first, so… go." Maburdan encouraged.

Rayph sighed. "Blimey." He stood. "I'm Rayph Zhiazray. Welcome to Stecks Almighty." He sat back down.

"Aneilia Fraude." The girl grumbled after Zhiazray poked her in the ribs.

"Fraud." Someone coughed and Fraude's cheeks flushed ten shades of red.

"Aeverus Zhiazray." One boy told me.

"I'm Reini Grafi, Cassius, welcome to our group." A redheaded Gryffindor smiled at me pleasantly.

"Marcus Belensei."

"I'm Feer Seindi, but I go by 'Rabbit-ears O' Johnson.'" The Asian Ravenclaw told me with a grin.

"Does he really-?"

"No." Sayik smiled. "He's barmy, don't pay him any mind."

"I'm Lapis Lazuli Gypsum." The last Ravenclaw girl spoke up. "Pleased to meet you, Cassius." I blushed slightly as the pretty Ravenclaw smiled at me.

For the most part, everyone in the group seemed fine with me. I glanced over at Fraude, who still wore a scowl. Well… most everyone.

"I'm Sayik Praygun." Sayik smirked at me.

"Uhm. C-Cassius Fontayne." I told them when he poked me.

"Jaybin Maburdan."

"And I'm Yierra Dauben-Staves." The Slytherin girl who sat on Maburdan's left smiled at me.

"Aaaaand that would be everyone." Aeverus Zhiazry piped up. "Now what?"

Silence.

I glanced awkwardly around the circle.

Jaybin sighed. "You can't all have sod all to say? Surely someone has _something." _

Silence.

I sat up a little. "I-I uhm. We could… maybe…" I trailed off, staring at my boots.

"Go ahead, Cassi." Sayik urged.

"We could play the Scenario Game…" I suggested timidly, and Sayik immediately perked up. He and I played this all the time. It was great fun.

"How do you play?" Zhiazray asked.

"Oh! Pleeease let me demonstrate!" Sayik begged.

"Go ahead, mini-munch." Zhiazray told him.

Sayik scowled, but spoke anyway after thinking for a moment. "Okay; Scenario: You're in an empty clearing, there is a river on one side full of sharks and other dangerous sea-creatures, on the other side, there is a forest full of pre-historic man-eating dinosaurs, and on the forth side, there is a lonely path through a dark stretch of woods. You don't have your wand. What path do you choose?"

Everyone considered this for a moment.

"I'd swim." Feer finally spoke up.

"Why?"

"I'm a strong swimmer." He shrugged.

"I'd go through the lonely path."

"I think I'd try my luck with the dinosaurs."

There were various answers around the room. Sayik turned to me, smiling.

I smiled back. "I would take the third path." I informed them all.

The all paused to recollect what Sayik had said.

"You'd go through the lonely path? No wait…" Maburdan furrowed her brow.

"I never said what the third path was. The first was a river, the second was a forest with dinosaurs, and the forth was the lonely path through the dark woods. The third path is the only safe route, but I never mentioned it, and none of you caught it except Cassius."

"I like this game." Lapis laughed.

"OH! Let me do one!" Seindi begged, then continued without waiting for consent. "Okay, so you just got home from work; you're so tired you're ready to topple over, you're so hungry you could pass out, you're hands are filthy as shit, you've got to take a piss so bad you're ready to wet your pants – what do you take care of first?"

Everyone was silent, blushing or trying to keep from giggling from his predictably amusing/inappropriate scenario.

"I'd eat first." Fraude stated.

"But your hands are filthy, what if you've been working in the sewers all day? That would be nasty. You'd get your food all gross and germs and shit." Seindi protested.

"I'd wash my hands first then."

"But you already have to piss, the running water would make you wet your pants."

"Um… I'd relieve myself first, I guess." Maburdan guessed.

"But you're so hungry you could pass out, and from losing the sugar in your piss you could pass out and die or something."

Everyone was silent as they contemplated Feer's amusingly complex scenario.

"Damn you." Zhiazray muttered.

"Simple." I stated after everyone gave up guessing the wrong answers.

Everyone turned to me, baffled that I had the answer again.

"You use your wand to make your food while you use the toilets and then you can have it floating by your face so you can eat as you wash your hands and then you go to bed."

"What? No, you don't have your wand, remember?" Zhiazray objected.

"No, he never specified that you don't have your wand. _Sayik's _scenario was like that, but this one wasn't."

Everyone was amazed at my astuteness.

Seindi nodded with approval.

"So basically the point of the game is to try and find a loophole?" Lapis Lazuli Gypsum guessed.

"Yes, it helps you learn to pay attention to subtle details, and learn to notice gaps in the puzzle." I agreed, smiling at her.

"Right. You just ruined it for me. It's supposed to be a game, not homework." Aeverus Zhiazray grumbled.

I scowled. "I was merely trying to suggest that it is both a game and a learning experience-"

"Give it up, Cassius, Aeverus hates everything that has anything to do with learning." Maburdan giggled.

I smiled thinly, slowly warming up to Sayik's friends. They may be still wary of me, and I of them… but it was better than the cold glares or fearful stares I had been receiving as of late.

**AN: So... another boring chapter in my opinion. I'd be very pleased to hear your opinions. Also, please note that I hate updating when I have no reviews.**

**If you have any questions about the characters, go the The Mighty Slytherins Wiki.**


	7. Year 1: Chapter 5

**Chapter seven:**

**Rejected**

**POV: Jaybin Dynil Maburdan**

"Um. Can- can we sit with you?"

I looked up from the homework I had been mulling over, a slight frown of concentration on my face. Sayik Praygun and Cassius Fontayne stood before me, both as rigid as a stone, clutching their books to their chests protectively, their shoulders tensed. Their postures and the way they held themselves so similarly spoke volumes. I knew they had probably grown up together. The only difference was Cassius was staring right at me with both eyes, but Sayik was having trouble, his one slightly crossed eye fighting to stay focused, the other staring straight at me with unmatched concentration, twitching slightly. That eye scared me sometimes. Not the turned in one, the one that could stare a hole in you.

"Oh." I softened my brow and stretched, yawning. "Sure, go ahead." I told them through the yawn. I had been studying for a long time and I could use a distraction. Not that to me that was all Sayik and Cassius were, distractions, of course but… you know what I mean.

"What you working on?" Sayik asked, as he sat down and I had a nagging feeling he had asked the question twice before I'd heard him, making me feel guilty.

"Uh? Just some Potions homework." I replied with a shrug, yawning again, watching as Cassius sat down next to his cousin.

Sayik nodded, shoving a strand of black hair behind one ear with pale, trembling fingers, staring at the books he was laying out before him on the library desk.

I sighed again and crossed my arms, leaning back. "You should talk to your parents about getting you glasses or something for that eye." I told him casually, if not tactlessly.

He looked up at me with a shocked expression for a moment, then blushed and looked down. "Oh. Um. Well. I was born- with it- like that. Um. My mum… tried to fix it with magic when I was little, but it didn't- it didn't work. I don't know if glasses would help."

I pursed my lips, nodding slowly, rocking slightly in my chair. "Cool. So I was just thinking, everyone seems okay with you, Cassius, so you can come again ne- good Lord, it's late!" I cried suddenly, having glanced at my watch, interrupting myself. I started frantically collecting my books, mind reeling as I stood abruptly, wincing as my sore legs suddenly had to bear my full weight after not being used for the past three and a half hours. I simply couldn't believe so much time had passed!

"But-"

I glanced guiltily at Sayik and Cassius as I slung my bag over my shoulder, watching as they sat there, staring up at me with wide eyes, a dreadfully despondent expression on Sayik's face and a simply defeated one on Cassius'. "I'm sorry, boys." I furrowed my brow, drooping my shoulders. I suddenly felt bad for ditching them. "I've got to go." I offered no extra explanation. "Bye." I called awkwardly as I left, feeling a very guilty weight begin to form in the pit of my stomach. I brushed it off as just hunger.

**POV: Sayik Cryptic Eden Praygun**

I sat, staring blankly at the tabletop, shoulders slumped, mood dragged down lower than I think it had ever been, one word playing over and over through my mind.

Rejected.

I was simply hopeless. I had gotten myself through the past week of Hogwarts by convincing myself that Jaybin and Aeverus, and _maybe _even some of their friends liked me. But I couldn't help but feel that every time I tried to approach one of them, they found an excuse, legitimate or otherwise, to get away from me. It was depressing.

_"__You make friends your first week of school, and you're doing well."_ –Those were the wise words of my Transfiguration teacher, of which her name had slipped my mind.

She hadn't been wrong, despite the fact that she'd been wrong about me. You're doing well to make friends in the first week of school, forget the first day. But after all that had come to pass over the past week, I was beginning to doubt my initial hopefulness at having finally made some friends. Perhaps I should start trying harder? But then again, how hard can one try before they become annoying? You can only try but so hard.

The level of difficulty for making friends all depends on how socially awkward you are. For me, I'd have to say the awkwardness raised high above most others. But then, surely I wasn't the only antisocial/awkward teen/preteen in the whole bloody school? Of course, the same could be said for poor Cassius, who had people leveling him cold glares for no reason everywhere he went, but that was different. He was a Part-Vampire, and most likely used to having people fear him. No. It was me, there was something wrong with me. And the whole bloody school could see it.

But then there was Jaybin. She seemed different. She was pretty, and smart, _and, _for a while, I had thought she liked me. Maybe I had been pushing it a little by daydreaming that she secretly 'like-liked' me back, but a guy can dream, can't he? But then again, what would a girl like Jaybin want to do with a total duffer like me? Putting aside my complete stupidity when it came to conversing, and/or socializing with other human beings of _any_ sex, not just females, there were my many other abnormalities to add to the list. My limp – strike one. My freaky eye – strike two. And my complete and total lack of sex appeal. Fucking strike three.

Sighing, I abandoned all thoughts on how hopelessly girlfriendless/friendless I was, and instead focused on gathering my books, stuffing them back into my satchel and pushing the chair back in. With all the energy of an eighty year old man, I trudged listlessly out of the Library, out into the empty halls, Cassius tagging behind me dutifully like a silent shadow. My destination- wherever my tired legs and lonely mind decided to take me; the great hall, the astronomy tower, the bloody awesome moving staircases, the room of requirement, out a window from the Gryffindor tower – when you were this lonely, the possibilities were endless.

**POV: Nokmour Osdenage**

"I don't' know, mate. I'm bloody bored is all I know right now." Karson Danisk, my best friend sighed, leaning back against the wall. I shrugged, sliding down in the window seat so that I was in a more comfortable position, facing Karson, my legs stretched out along the window, one foot in his lap, his stretched out just beside mine.

"I am as vell." I agreed quietly in my thick Russian accent. It was to wonder why Karson put up with me for so long. He hated to be bothered with caring, but he apparently cared enough to keep me around, despite his constant complaints that I was 'impossible to understand'.

"We should go find some cute guys to mess with." He sighed, playing with my shoelace.

I made a disgusted face at the bisexual boy. "Yuck. No, can't ve go for the pretty girls for one time? Ve always chance vith the boys. You like the girls too." I complained.

"Yeah I do." He gave me a smirk that I knew meant he was visualizing something very dirty in his very dirty mind. Karson was only two years ahead of me. He was thirteen, but he already had a major sex drive. It was disturbing to know that he'd hooked up with half the girls in the school, his grade and higher, and had supposedly raped everyone in second year and lower. "Fine. We'll snag the first person we see, boy or girl." He pushed my foot aside and lifted his legs, scooting past me, letting them hit the floor lightly as he jumped.

I smiled and turned, letting my legs dangle from the high window. "But Karson." I called and he turned and looked up at me. "Vhat if za first person ve see is a professor? Ve still snag 'em?" I gave him my impish grin.

"Of course not, prat. Get down from there." He slapped my boot and I laughed, sliding down to the floor.

"Ve could go to za great hall and check out za talent, yeah? Maybe a few are still up." I asked.

He didn't reply. "Oh, hey." He tapped my arm, his voice hushed, pulling me back some.

"Vhat?" I whispered, knowing he had spotted someone to his liking.

"Look." He pointed down the dark, empty hall where a lonely little first year girl was walking with her head down, her dark hair falling over her eyes, and a small first year boy was trailing behind her, his bright blonde hair standing out in the darkness of the halls.

"She's fit." I agreed quietly, though through my thick accent it sounded more like 'seas feet.' By now, Karson knew better than to ask me to repeat myself. It did no good.

"Come on." He tapped my arm again and started striding purposefully towards the pair as they continued on their slow stroll. I followed closely behind.

"Hey there." Karson put on a charming smile, standing up in front of the girl, who's head snapped up right away, her pale face alight even in the dark hall. I narrowed my eyes at her, then puffed out my cheeks, feeling them burn. It was just that Praygun kid. Well shit. I had been hoping to get some time in too, but it appeared that Karson would get all the fun.

"What's your name?" Karson hadn't missed a beat. If he'd noticed that the 'girl' was actually a boy yet, it didn't' seem to bother him at all. Then again, it didn't make any difference to him. I realized then that the boy behind Praygun was Cassius Fontayne, the Vampire boy. I edged a little away from him, glancing at Karson, but he didn't seem to notice nor care.

"Um. Sayik." Praygin replied quietly. Despite the fact that he spoke softly, and didn't have an exceptionally deep voice, you could tell he wasn't a girl. Kid was puny! He was pretty for a boy too, and his hair was longish, just to his ears. It was to wonder that he didn't get mistaken for a girl every day.

"So, Sayik. You wanna hang out? We've got the rest of the evening to burn, and nothing to burn it with. What'ya say?" Karson invited enticingly.

"Um. Okay…" Sayik replied with a tremor of nervousness. It made me wonder if he was smart enough to know that Karson had more than friendly fun on his mind, or if he was just shy. Perhaps both. And then I saw his shy smile, and the hopeful gleam in his dark eyes. Poor boy. He was naïve. I hoped Karson wouldn't break his heart. I could tell it was a fragile little thing.

"Come on." Karson threw his arm over Sayik's slim shoulders, making the boy tense up further.

Glancing down at the patch on the robes over Sayik's chest, I noted that he was from Slytherin. Poor kid. He'd never get away from Karson, being in the same house as him. I often found myself even wishing I were in a different house. Karson and I were mates, but that didn't stop him from flirting and making out with me whenever he wanted to. I was immensely relieved we weren't in the same dorm.

Leading Sayik off to who-knows-where, to do Lord-knows-what… I pulled back, knowing that Karson would want some alone time with his new favorite person, even though Fontayne still stubbornly trailed behind. I could tell Karson really liked Praygun. I knew him well enough to read the looks in his eyes. Most of the time, he just chased boys _and_ girls alike for the fun of it, or out of sheer boredom. This was more than that. I just hoped Sayik would be able to handle it.

**AN: So, what will Karson do to Sayik? Speculate!**


	8. Year 1: Chapter 6

**Chapter eight:**

**Arcanum Ambula**

**POV: Aeverus Iothi Zhiazray**

"There you are. What the hell took so long?" I hissed as soon as I saw Jaybin barreling around the corner, her robes and skirt swishing about her legs in her hurry.

"Sorry." She panted, coming to a sliding halt, throwing her bag off and leaning forward to catch her breath. "Got- distracted." She gasped.

"What are you wearing?" I whisper-cried, staring at her school clothes. Everyone else was wearing warmer muggle clothing.

Jaybin just waved me off, still panting.

"Did you run all the way here?" Feer asked without need, not even attempting to be quiet.

Jaybin looked up to give him the dirtiest look. "No." She spat sarcastically. "I crawled. That's why I'm ready to puke up my lungs."

Feer just shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets, shaking his head slightly to flip a lock of black hair from his dark eyes.

"Okay." I said, trying to defuse the tension that was already building. "Come on then, if you've caught your breath enough." I stooped down and grabbed her satchel, throwing it over my shoulder, then offering her my hand. I could be a gentleman when I wanted to.

"Yeah." Jaybin muttered, straightening and drawing in a long breath, taking the proffered hand.

"C'mon." I growled to the others, who grumbled and followed. I stayed in step with Jaybin, a hand carefully on her back as I guided her forward, noting her foul mood. "You okay?" I asked. Surely Feer couldn't have set her in the doldrums, could he? Just by asking a stupid question? She knew what he was like. She wouldn't have let it get to her. Unless she was already upset.

"Fine." She replied through slightly clenched teeth. I knew she would snub anything I said to contradict her. So I stayed quiet.

"So… have you seen Praygun lately?" I asked after a while of walking in silence.

I saw her stiffen. So that was it. Praygun.

"Yeah." She replied, trying to sound unconcerned.

"How was he?"

"Fine. He's fine." She shrugged, her breath forming a cloud as we stepped out of the castle into the cold night air.

"You should have invited him to the Arcanum Ambula." I told her, pulling off my jacket and draping it over her shoulders as she hadn't changed into casual clothes. Her thin robes weren't warm enough by a long shot.

She stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide.

"What?" I asked, concerned.

"I was under the impression you didn't want me to invite him." She whispered, clutching at my jacket and drawing it more tightly about her shoulders, her breath forming a cloud.

"No. I said not just anybody could join. Sayik's been joining us for our meetings, and he's a decent bloke. He can become a member of Stecks Almighty." I replied, turning to face her.

She stared at me accusingly, then looked back longingly at the castle. "I wish I had known." She murmured.

"It's too late now. Come on, Jay. We'll invite him next time." I put an arm around her shoulders and started leading her forward. She took a few uncertain steps, glancing backwards then sighed and followed.

**POV: Sayik Cryptic Eden Praygun**

I swallowed hard, my heart beating violently as Karson touched me inappropriately. This was wrong. Karson was older than me, and more importantly, he was the same gender as me, and I had read about stuff like that, and I was okay with it, but to be honest, it freaked me out. I couldn't handle it happening to me.

"Um- uhm. Uh- Karson?" I stuttered, grabbing his hand and trying to push him away.

"Shh. It's okay. Go with it." He whispered in my ear, pulling me closer.

"I'm not- I don't. Please don't." I begged quietly as he nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck.

When he had first brought me to a quiet part of the castle, I had thought he was going to show me something cool. I had no idea he had other things in mind. When it had first started, poor Cassius had attacked Danisk with all his might, trying to get the older boy away from me, but as it so happens, Danisk was superstitious and carried garlic around with him – Lord have mercy – and though it doesn't have nearly the affect on part-Vampires as it has on pureblooded ones, poor Cassius had been forced to leave me here. I at least hoped he had gone for help.

"Okay! Okay. Please… stop." I jumped up when Danisk's hand ran up to more private areas.

"Hey where you going?" He whined, standing.

"I'm sorry, I just- please don't." I told him, trying to walk away but he kept blocking my path. "Can you please move?"

"No."

"Please?"

He stared down at me for a moment, a sly grin slowly spreading over his face. "I'll let you go if you make me a deal."

"Okay." I readily agreed.

"Only if you promise to do my homework for a month, will I let you go."

I stared up at him for a moment, jaw slowly unhinging before I snapped it shut. "Are you serious?" I cried.

"Shh. Yes, I'm serious."

I tried to get passed him but he blocked me again, pushing back when I shoved madly against him. "Move- get off me! Get off!" I cried in alarm at how much stronger he was than me, wildly flailing my arms - swings he blocked easily.

"You're not leaving! You're not leaving until you agree!" He laughed, seemingly enjoying overpowering me.

"FINE!" I screamed so loud my voice echoed through the empty halls, making him flinch only slightly.

"Fine, be like that. Get outta here." He shoved me by the back of my head and I had to stumble to keep my balance before taking off at a run, going so fast my boots squealed on the stone floor, not daring to turn back as I felt his eyes bore into the back of my head. This wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

I was too busy trying to escape to notice the raised voices that filled the hall behind me.

**AN: So, what's this Arcanum Ambula that Aeverus speaks of? Will Sayik be able to steer clear of Karson and Nokmour? SPECULATE!**

**AS ALWAYS, GO TO THE MIGHTY SLYTHERINS WIKI IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CHARACTERS!**


	9. Year 1: Chapter 7

**Chapter nine:**

**Wire-Rim Glasses; Miss Moral High-ground**

**POV: Jaybin Dynil Maburdan**

"Sayik?"

Sayik looked up to see me walking slowly up to him, almost shyly. He looked back down at the floor and kept walking, pulling his satchel tighter over his shoulder. "What?" he asked, sounding hurt. He had every right to be, I suppose.

I felt my chest tighten. "Look, Sayik about yesterday…" I began.

"Jaybin, it's fine. You had more important plans. I understand." He interrupted me, increasing his pace.

"Ugh. Sayik, it's not like that, okay?" I tried, going faster to get ahead of him. Even then he didn't stop and I had to resort to walking backwards.

"What then?" He asked evenly, not looking at me as he kept walking.

"I had- other plans…" I trailed off.

"Uh-huh." I was sure if it weren't for the hurt in his voice, he would have been smug for having been right. "I'll see you around, Jaybin." He whispered, pushing past me.

I stopped when my back hit a wall, and stared blankly at the floor. I'd messed up.

**POV: Sayik Cryptic Eden Praygun**

I knew I was being hard on her, but I couldn't help but feel hurt that she clearly thought I was a waste of her precious time. I knew I could do better at finding friends. Then again, not many children of my generation were any good any more.

They were becoming corrupt from all the garbage slowly being drilled into our heads.

Sighing, I slipped into my next classroom and slipped into my seat, ducking as I slid my satchel off my shoulder and dumped its contents onto my desk. Looking up, I noticed I was the first student there. First person, actually. The Professor wasn't even there yet.

Tapping my fingers idly, I looked around at my surroundings. It was just a bland classroom down in the dungeons. Potions. I hated potions. The steam from the cauldrons was suffocating. The stench was even worse. And the entire room, though well-lit by lanterns and such seemed shrouded in darkness that lingered from a distant past, and the chill seemed to bite at you. That and the stillness was eerie. The silence played evil tricks on your mind, the shadows cast by the lanterns intensified the ghostly effect.

I was startled from my thoughts as someone sat next to me. Expecting it to be Cassius, I was surprised to see Feer Seindi had sat down, even though all the other desks in the room were empty, he had chosen to sit next to me. This fact made something warm and fuzzy settle in the pit of my stomach and I fought back a huge grin.

Just then, the doors opened and the class started streaming in, followed closely by a rushing professor who apologized for being late, even though everyone else was as well.

Even as all Feer's friends, Reini, Marcus and the others came and sat, he stayed where he was.

Cassius, clearly disappointed that I was sitting with someone else, ended up sitting with Lapis, who was kind enough to allow him to do so.

After a few moments of staring at the professor as he doled out assignments, the realization of the century dawned on me. He was Harry Potter! My jaw snapped open as he passed out seatwork, onto each student's desk, stopping briefly in front of my desk and handing me the sheet of paper. When I failed to take it from him, he simply dropped it on my desk and moved on.

I feel the reason I hadn't realized who he was sooner was that I simply hadn't paid him any mind. I had been slowly working myself up to looking my professor's in the eye when they spoke to me, and I had yet to do it with him. I simply couldn't believe I hadn't figured it out sooner!

With slightly shaking hands, I took up my quill and started working on the paper as quickly and neatly as possible. I was the first to finish so I decided to take it up to him. Standing shakily, I limped slowly the few feet from my desk to his, where he sat, staring at the clock.

"Um. I'm done… professor." I whispered.

He turned in his chair to look at me, and I couldn't bring myself to meet his famous green gaze behind his trade-mark wire rim glasses. "Good work." He murmured, reaching for the paper.

I flinched and shoved it towards him, crumpling the paper stupidly into his hand. I swallowed hard and glanced up at him so briefly that I only caught a blur of green, along with his oh-so-famous scar. Dipping my head, I turned and shuffled back to my seat and began setting up my cauldron as I waited for the others to finish their seatwork.

**POV: Karson Danisk**

"You're such a prat, Karson Danisk, a bullshitting bully with nothing better to do than rape innocent first-years and bully scared little kids into doing your bidding!"

"I don't do that!" I shouted back.

Heridelle glared at me, then reached forward and snatched a cowering Nokmour from behind me.

_"__Yes, _you do." She growled, holding a fistful of Nokmour's robes as the frightened boy tried to pry her fingers loose.

"Nokmour isn't a scared little kid that I get to do my bidding, he's my friend!" I retorted.

We both turned to stare at Nokmour as he whimpered and trembled.

"Don't make me laugh-"

"Oh what do you know? Miss _moral _high ground_!?"_

Haridelle released Nokmour and stormed towards me, long, pale finger jabbing at my chest.

"I _know _that I'm your girlfriend, mister_ immoral _high ground, and if you keep this up, I won't be much longer!" She hissed, perfectly manicured fingernail cutting into my chest through my robes. The girl was crazy frightening.

"Adelle-" I pleaded.

"No! It's all about persona to you, isn't it? You have to keep up your bloody image as the school bad boy. Give it up already, Karson! You have a girlfriend, a loving, caring one – me, need I remind you – and you have good grades and a rich, pureblooded family! Why waste your time raping people and being an arse-hole? The image you've created for yourself won't last forever, Danisk!"

I rolled my eyes and attempted to brush her off. A bad move, I might add.

She growled and slammed me back against the wall, her iron grip unrelenting and her cat-like claws digging painfully into my shoulder. I stared fearfully into her fire-filled green eyes, her wild black hair falling into her face as she scowled at me. She was feisty for how lanky she was. One would think upon first glance she was a delicate creature who could easily be snapped. I had made that inaccurate assessment the day I met her, and had been living with that mistake for the three years we'd been dating.

Haridelle Black, was most certainly… the most frightening girl in school.

**AN: Okay, so I know Harry grew up to be an auror, but I just wanted to throw him in there somewhere. Let's just say for this he is an auror and a professor? I mean, Sev' was a professor, Death Eater and member of the Order of the Phoenix all at the same time, so… this should be a piece of cake for Harry the all-powerful chosen one, eh? lol.**

**Also, what do you think is up with that chic Karson is with, huh? Feisty, MEROW. Lolz.**

**ONCE AGAIN, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT A CHARACTER, GO TO THE MIGHTY SLYTHERINS WIKI!**


	10. Year 1 Christmas Break: Chapter 8

**Chapter ten:**

**Vampires and Houseguests **

**POV: Mardon Fontayne V**

"Mardon, where is your bloody owl?" Mistral asked, suddenly coming into the room, clutching a folded paper in her pale, slender fingers, her movements slow and graceful, even in her obvious haste.

I eyed the note skeptically, as Mistral hadn't ever the need to use my owl before a month ago, when she all of a sudden started using it on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis.

"What the hell for?" I spat, throwing down my newspaper and lifting my cup to my lips, allowing the blood-flavored tea to sooth my temper. "Who are you owling this time?" I asked, toning down my anger.

Her beautiful features hardened slightly and she drew the letter protectively up to her chest. "A friend." She replied evasively.

I narrowed my eyes and set down my tea, turning in my chair, eyeing my wife up and down with plain distrust. Ever since Tempest had been born, I had plainly distrusted her. How could I not, when she had been with another man in order for Tempest to be born? Merlin only knew why I still stayed with the bloody woman.

"And, who might this… friend, be?" I asked calmly, flicking my tongue absently over my fangs – a habit I had picked up in my teenage years that I had yet to cure myself of. I often found my tongue bleeding. I hated the taste of my own blood.

Mistral shifted her gaze to the ground, then pulled her letter away so she could stare blindly at it.

"Mistral, I can hear your guilt from here. Who have you been owling this past month?" I finally snapped.

"My brother." She admitted with obvious reluctance.

"Lucius?" I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "I thought he disowned you." And the suspicious gaze was back.

"He did." She sighed, her arms going limp. "Well, um, he-"

Just then, Lyra came in and interrupted what she was about to say. Those two, I knew had to be secretly plotting my downfall. Bloody women and their damned-to-hell scheming.

"Mum?" The twenty-eight year old squib murmured. "Come and help me?"

"Yes, dearest, what is it?" Mistral welcomed the distraction with open arms and ushered the girl into the kitchen.

Grumbling profanities, I snapped my newspaper and absent-mindedly stared at the headline.

**Seven muggles murdered! **

**POV: Mistral Lyra Malfoy-Fontayne**

"Thank you for saving me." I whispered gratefully to the young woman, glancing over my shoulder at my shrewd husband as he continued to read the newspaper and sip away at his blood-tea.

"No problem." Lyra smiled. I studied her bright blue eyes and silvery blonde hair along with her pointed features – so many brazen Malfoy characterizations. And yet, her features were much softer, less hopelessly snobbish than others in the Malfoy line. She took after me, I thought, pride budding in my chest.

"Have you seen Prina? I can't find that damn owl for the life of me." I sighed, glaring down at the letter in my hands.

"Mum, guard your tongue, Svetlana is in here." Lyra scolded, moving over to cover her daughter's ears.

I laughed, shaking my head. "Love, we all curse. She's going to grow up and do it behind your back until either she's too old for you to punish or you're too old to care."

Lyra scowled, absently playing with her daughter's fine blonde hair while the eight-year old sat silently at the table and drew. She looked a lot like Lyra, I mused. She had her father's face, and her hair was much darker shade of blonde thanks to his black hair. She was still every bit the little Malfoy, though.

I looked wistfully at Lyra again. If only Lucius could see her now… I shook myself out of my thoughts when I realized she was speaking again.

"What did you say?" I asked, a guilty blush slowly creeping into my cheeks.

Lyra smirked at my momentary absence of mind. "I asked if you'd like to come stay with us sometime, whenever you needed to… you know, _get away." _She whispered the last part, motioning none-too discretely towards the living room, where my Part-Vampire husband sat, idly pretending to read the newspaper as he listened in on our conversation.

I smiled at her generous and rather blunt offer. "I don't think that will be necessary." I told her after a moment, sitting down across from Svetlana, who was still engrossed in her drawing.

Lyra took the empty seat next to her daughter, worry creasing her brow. "I already talked to Sjaanje about it… he said you're welcome any time, and well… even if he said you weren't, you know you are."

I smiled again. "Your concern is noted, love, but honestly. I'm fine."

She stared at me for a moment, a frown still marring her beautiful face before she nodded, turning to Svetlana.

"Mummy, the picture is done!" Svetlana announced and faint tint of a Russian accent bled beautifully into her British brogue.

"Is it now?" Lyra smiled, taking the picture from her daughter and eyeing it lovingly. Even through the little scribbles, the poorly drawn stick-people, the red-crayoned grass and the odd shape that resembled a house, I knew she loved it. I recognized the pride in her eyes as they roamed over the stick-drawn people, of a mother and child holding hands, most-likely herself and Svetlana.

I smiled, adoration for the little girl making my chest swell with delight.

"It's beautiful, love. I'll pin it to the fridge when we get home, okay?" Lyra told her daughter, who nodded eagerly. "Which reminds me," Lyra continued, her earlier frown returning as she looked back to me. "We should be going if we want to get back to Bridgewater before dark."

"You go on ahead, love. I'll be fine." I told her with a smile, already helping Svetlana pack up her things.

"Okay." She agreed reluctantly.

After their things were packed up and ready to go, they were walking through the hall to leave when Mardon called out to Lyra.

"Yes, father?" She came over to stand in front of his armchair.

"You bloody well stop pissing around, girl. I have a temper, but I never lay a hand on Mistral, and you know that." He hissed, his angry fangs showing more as he snarled.

Lyra turned a shade paler. "Sorry, father. I'm just worried about her health." She told him sheepishly.

Mardon softened only slightly, still fixing her with a hard stare. "Health my arse-" He muttered, going back to his bloody paper, an obvious dismissal. I was so glad his son was much tamer.

"We should go." Lyra murmured, going to the door and ushering her daughter out.

"It was lovely having you over." I told her, standing at the door as they climbed down the front porch.

"Bye Babushka!" Svetlana cried, coming up to give me a tight hug, wrapping her thin arms around my waist. Instead of calling me 'Aunt Missy' as I had always tried to make her, she called me Babushka, which was Russian I knew, for grandmother.

I smiled and hugged her back. "Bye love." I murmured, pressing a shiny new silver pound in her palm.

She flashed me a grin, hugging me once more before she dashed over to hop in her mother's car.

"Bye darlings! See you next time!" I called, waving as they drove off.

I sighed, watching until they were gone, then disappearing back inside.

**POV: Mardon Fontayne VI**

I sighed, turning to my wife as she put dishes in the sink, them clanking together noisily.

"Erjona." I muttered, moving closer to her.

"Yes, love?" She replied distractedly.

"We've been staying at your sister's for the past week, when are we going back home?" I persisted, noting her shoulders as they slumped, and catching her deflated sigh.

"Mardon, you _know _we can't go back there… they're too many muggles there, and one of the children saw you." She looked up at me with a frown.

"So? The bloody child was trespassing on clearly marked private property." I growled.

"Yes, but Mardon, did you have to hiss at her? She went crying to her parents and they called the authorities. We can't go back there now."

I set my expression in a firm scowl, one she caught when she turned to face me.

"Don't give me that-"

"Erjona-" I pleaded, all anger fading, to be replaced by sadness as I moved over to my wife and took her soggy hands in mine.

"We can't." She stubbornly shook her head, her long red hair flying about her shoulders in a way that always fascinated me and held my gaze.

Erjona could sense my attention slipping. "You _know _we can't." She insisted.

I dragged my mesmerized gaze away from her hair and scowled at her again, releasing her hands and crossing my arms like an angry child. "Why not?"

She stared at me blankly.

"Fine!" I cried, throwing my hands in the air. "At least the boys will be happy about that…" I muttered, shaking my head and walking away.

"Happy about what?" Erjona's little sister had walked in just at that moment.

"Happy about us living with you." I grumbled, leaning against the fridge.

"Living with us…?" Miriad looked over at her sister. "Erjona, I said you could stay for a while, not forever-"

"I'm sorry that we've been such a burden as of late, Miri, but we don't have anywhere to go at the moment." Erjona sighed, drying her hands and plopping unhappily on a kitchen chair.

Miriad folded her arms and shifted her weight to her other side. "Erji-"

"I know! I'm sorry, Miri, but just a little longer, I promise…"

Miriad sighed and sat down across from her sister. The two proceeded to talk it out in hushed tones, completely leaving me out of their conversation.

I rolled my eyes and made my way into the living room where Sejyra sat, watching the muggle television set they had. I smiled and plopped down next to her, making her giggle as she bounced slightly.

"Hi uncle Mardon." She greeted, tucking her legs up under her dress.

"Hey kiddo. What are you watching?" I asked, staring at the screen as it changed back and forth and two people talked as though they didn't know they were being watched. I was truly fascinated by the muggle television sets. I still didn't understand how they worked.

"_Boy Meets World. _These are re-runs. They stopped filming it a while ago. Sayik says he remembers when they were still filming." She replied.

"Oh." She might as well have been speaking in tongues. I tipped my head back as Erjona and Miriad's whispers drifted into the living room, but were still a jumbled mess. Chuckling mirthlessly, I put an arm around my little niece. "Well, you make more sense than you mum and your aunt Erjona." I told the small child as she snuggled up against me.

I sighed and stared at the screen, listening and not fully understanding, but allowing it to draw me away from my own problems for a while.

**POV: Haridelle Black**

"I'll see you after Christmas, okay?" I murmured to Karson, pecking him quickly on the lips.

He frowned, rubbing a small circle on my cheek before nodding and picking up his bag and pushing past me into the crowd.

I sighed and waited for my mother for fifteen minutes. When she didn't show, I knew she wasn't coming. I was disappointed, but I knew not to expect her to actually come. I sighed and headed for the loo, locking myself in a stall and apparating home.

"Ah, you're home sooner than I anticipated." Mother told me, setting down her tea and standing.

"You weren't planning on coming to get me anyway, it doesn't matter." I muttered, dropping my bag on the floor and plopping down on the old couch, drawing my knees to my chest and hugging them.

Mother stared at me for a moment before dropping herself down beside me and mimicking my knees-to-chest position. "Love, what do you mean? Of course I would have come for you-"

"Like you have every other year, you mean?" I glared at her and she snapped her jaw shut.

"What's the matter, you look awful… a-and you know I really don't fit in out in public…" Mother rested her chin on her knees and stared blindly ahead for a moment.

I sighed, squeezing my eyes shut. "Sorry for snapping mum… it's just…" I sighed again and pressed my thumb and forefinger to my nose, nursing a three-day headache. "I feel like I have a hangover and I never even went to the party."

Mother's lips twitched and she turned to fix me with her perpetually worried stare, her eyes swimming with the same distant memories that haunted her every time she looked at me. She shuffled closer to me and put an arm around my shoulders, murmuring all the right things, and slowly, I relaxed.

"Happy Christmas, mum."

**AN: All credit for ****_Boy Meets World _****goes to whoever the hell came up with it. (it's the most epic show ever, by the way, check it out sometime ;) **

**Okay, so the first POV is Mardon Fontayne the fifth. He is Cassius' grandfather. The second POV is Mistral Malfoy, she is Cassius' grandmother. The third POV is Mardon Fontayne the sixth. he is Mardon Fontayne the fifth's son and the father of Cassius Fontayne. He married Erjona Hensul, who is Miriad Hensul's sister. There. I just wanted to make sure you didn't get lost. :D**

**Please review!**


	11. Year 1 Christmas Break: Chapter 9

**Chapter eleven:**

**Christmas Break; Right All Along**

**POV: Jaybin Dynil Maburdan**

I sighed, glaring at Rayph as he cracked another of his dirty jokes.

"I'm just taking the piss! Honestly, my hilarious jokes and wit are wasted on you people. It's not my fault you don't have a sense of humor!" He cried.

"I have a sense of humor Rayph, you're just not sodding funny."

"Why must you lie to yourself every day?"

I rolled my eyes and shot him another glare.

At the moment, Stecks Almighty was congregated in the Room of Requirement for another of our 'fun' little meetings. It was Christmas break, and all of us had decided rather than spend it at home with our dull families, we'd stay at Hogwarts and spend it with each other. I was already regretting having agreed to stay. Rayph and Feer, ever the pranksters, had begun a round of dirty joke sharing, and it had just gotten out of hand.

"All I was saying was that you and Praygun should-"

"DON'T!" I cried, covering my poor, virgin ears. "For the love of chastity, Rayph!"

Rayph threw his head back and laughed. "Chastity? Are you planning on becoming a nun, Jaybin?"

"I just might." I snapped. "And if I do, you'll bloody well respect me."

"Of course, Sister." He told me with a straight face, the corners of his lips twitching, eyes gleaming with mirth. Everyone else in the room was either uncomfortable, or drawing amusement from the conversation.

"I should." I said thoughtfully after a moment.

"You would." Aeverus rolled his eyes.

"I might."

"Quite contrite" Feer suddenly added.

"What the hell?"

"Sorry, I thought we were rhyming."

I glared at him, shaking my head. "Girls… you want to get away from these bloody moronic boys as much as I do, right?"

"You know _I _don't." Aneilia snuggled up closer to Rayph as if to prove her point. The two smiled and kissed.

I rolled my eyes in disgust and looked hopefully at the other four girls.

Lapis shrugged. "I'm in."

"I guess." Candy murmured, staring longingly at Feer, who didn't seem to notice, as per usual.

Reini seemed content next to Marcus.

Yierra was flirting with Cassius, who was blushing and murmuring quiet responses.

I stared at the place where Sayik should be, wondering yet again where he was. He hadn't gone home for Christmas, Cassius had said as much, and yet… he hadn't been coming to our meetings lately. I hoped desperately that he wasn't still mad at me.

"See, she's imagining Praygun here at the moment, imagining how much she would love to shag him-"

"Oh fuck off!" I shouted, grabbing a pillow from the couch and hurling it at him.

Rayph laughed, ducking and letting the pillow fly past his head. "A pillow, Jaybin? Is that honestly the best you can-"

In a split second, I had jumped to my feet and hexed him, turning his knees backwards and making him scream like a little girl.

"Oh my God, Maburdan, fix him!" Aneilia shrieked, jumping up and staring at Rayph's backward knees in horror.

I huffed, stalking over to Rayph and pointing my wand in his face, watching as he eyed me in terror.

"I told you not to push me, Zhiazray!" I hissed.

Aeverus jumped to his feet, moving over to me and quickly pulling me away. "Calm, Jaybin, just calm down…"

"He's such a vile bastard!"

"I know, I know…"

"Stupid dipshit…"

"As hilarious as this is-"

"I'm _not _changing him back."

"Jaybin!" Aeverus protested. "If you don't fix him we'll have to take him to Madam Pomfrey, and I'm sure she'll just _love _having us wake her at two in the morning!"

I glared at him.

"Jay! If we didn't have to change him before a professor saw him I'd say just leave him, but as it is, if you don't change him back you're going to get into trouble – _all of us _will." Aeverus whined.

"That's just too sodding bad, isn't it?"

"Jay!"

_"__No."_

"Don't be so damn stubborn, Jaybin. You've never been able to hold a grudge for more than a day, by this time tomorrow you'll be up to your ears in regret-"

"Don't count on it."

I stalked away, leaving the meeting early, as these stupid little gatherings lasted sometimes until it was time to start getting ready for classes… we all seemed to have developed some form or another of insomnia.

**POV: Mirianda Perios Snape-Maburdan**

"NO! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE A TEAM KOTEIS, YOU DIDN'T BACK ME UP!"

_"__YOU DIDN'T NEED IT, MIRIANDA! _You're always going on about how sodding brave you are and you don't need my help-"

"WHEN have I ever said that? Never! I always look for you to back me up, Koteis! THAT MAN WAS ASSAULTING ME AND YOU JUST STOOD BY LIKE SOME BLUBBERING IDIOT-"

"YOU WERE FINE!"

"FOR ALL YOU CARE! He could have grabbed me and run off and done _Lord knows what _and you couldn't bring yourself to give a flying-"

"YOU'RE NOT A BLOODY CHILD, MIRIANDA! I don't have to sodding walk after you, use your God-Damned wand!"

"THAT'S NOT THE BLOODY POINT-"

"Then what is, huh?" Koteis glared at me, cold blue eyes burning with hatred. It made my insides twist to think how those eyes had used to burn with fierce love.

I was nearly in tears now, spluttering my words in barely discernible jumbles. "We're supposed- watch- backs- a team." Was all I was able to splutter, tears streaming freely down my cheeks now.

In a swift movement that I heard before I saw or felt, I was sent reeling backwards, clutching a suddenly stinging cheek, staring up at Koteis with wide eyes. It wasn't as though Koteis had never hit me before… he had… but it was always a harder blow on my emotional state than on my physical being. I was used to pain – I had grown up with it, but I still was struggling with emotional scars and found anything like this traumatizing, especially coming from someone who was supposed to love me. It reminded me of her – Bellatrix, my mother – who was supposed to have loved me as her daughter.

I was sobered for only a few seconds before the tears came back and I started sobbing, feeling him grab my arm and yank me to my feet, shaking me. "Stop, stop crying!" he growled, shaking me as though it would make me stop. I only cried harder, thoroughly terrified. I had left my wand in my purse in the kitchen, and Annenia was out shopping… Koteis and I were completely alone, and he had the upper hand.

Koteis slammed me against the wall, clamping a hand over my mouth but the sobs wouldn't stop, pouring out my mouth and slipping past his fingers as they pressed harder against my mouth. He pulled back his hand, unmuffling my sobs and reached back, then slapped me hard across the face again, making me pause for a moment to gain my bearings before the sobs started again. This, of course, always gave Koteis the idea that if he kept hitting me, I'd eventually pause and stay that way. What he didn't know was that the shock from each blow always gave me pause. It was something that had happened even when I was little, making mother angrier and angrier with me each time it happened.

Growling, Koteis pulled me back and slammed me against the wall again and my head bounced, pain radiating through my skull. It was at this point that I started fighting back, flailing my limbs uselessly. I had never been a good fighter, with or without my wand, as I had learned very few defensive spells or hand-to-hand combat techniques. I'd always had someone to look out for me. Falin always did when we were little, and usually took my punishments, and when we were older, father was always there, and then Koteis had been there for me for a while… I don't know what had ever happened… what I had ever done to make him so angry…

I suppose it could have been the fact that we were no longer sexually active…. It had begun a year ago when we had had an argument, and I had refused to do anything with him that night, and he'd forced himself on me. I had lost a lot of love and respect for him after that, and kept refusing him at night, sometimes resulting in a forced sexual encounter, one that could be categorized as rape.

Annenia didn't know… I knew she suspected we weren't getting along, but I made sure she never found out the extent of our arguments. I didn't want to worry her.

Jaybin had been growing apart from her father ever since she'd caught him with another woman. I knew Koteis had threatened Jaybin if she told me about it, and that they both thought I still didn't know. It was hard not to, when you came home and your room reeked of sex when you hadn't had it in months, and you found undergarments that didn't belong to you. I had suspected for a long time that Koteis was being unfaithful anyways. I only hoped that he would never hurt Jaybin. She was the only reason I stayed with Koteis, because I couldn't really afford to care for her and Serenia and Annenia on my own.

I was drawn out of my thoughts as I felt Koteis grab my flailing arms and twisted them back down to my sides. Then I made a huge, _huge _mistake… I cannot express the feeling of instant regret I felt after instinctively kneeing him in the crotch. The look of absolute hatred flared up a moment after the pain went away, and I was still trapped, feeling very much like a rat in a maze that had just taunted the cat.

I tried to dart past him but he snaked out an arm and grabbed me at the waist, yanking me back.

"LET GO!" I shrieked, flailing around in his grasp.

"Shut up." He growled, pulling my arms behind my back and pushing me into our room. I felt him push me down face-first on the bed and I heard him unzip his trousers. "Time to pay, bitch." I heard him hiss and I felt dread roil through me in waves of pain and fear. Koteis had been the perfect match for me when we were young… but as it turned out, my father had been right about him all along.

**AN: Poor Mirianda! Please show her some love in your reviews?**


	12. Year 1 Christmas Break: Chapter 10

**Chapter twelve:**

**Chocolate Frogs; What a Mess**

**POV: Harry James Potter**

"Harry?"

"Come in." I called distractedly, sorting through papers on my desk.

Hermione stepped in, a hand absent-mindedly placed on her steadily growing abdomen, as she was about six months along now with her and Ron's second child.

I looked up and smiled at my best friend as she came over to me, a worried frown on her pretty face.

"What's the matter, 'Mione?" I murmured, putting aside the papers I had been grading.

"It's Mirianda…" She murmured. "You know, Severus' daughter-"

I chuckled. "'Mione, I know who Mirianda is. We have tea with her every Thursday, remember?"

"Right." She waved her lack of logic away absently. "I'm worried about her, Harry."

I frowned, instantly concerned. "Why? What's wrong?"

Hermione sighed and dropped down wearily into the chair on the other side of my desk. "I went to see her yesterday afternoon, because you know she's expecting another baby and I thought we might exchange tips and such, mum-to-mum… but…" She shook her head. "She was so absent with me, and she looked terrible. Absolutely exhausted, and I could feel strong magic in the air. When she wasn't looking I checked and a lot of healing spells have been going on there for quite a while. I know!" She stopped me before I could protest. "I know she's a healer, Harry, but it's just not normal for that many healing spells to be used in a home. She's an experienced healer, it's not like she needs the practice."

"So… what are you suggesting?" I furrowed my brow, not exactly following her concern, as usual. Hermione always seemed to see the things that weren't there or often even seeing things that others tried to hide.

"I think that she's being abused by that husband of hers." Hermione scowled.

"Koteis!? No, no Hermione, he and I are good friends, he would never-"

"I can see it in her eyes, Harry." Hermione stared me down, a frightened look capturing her features. She absently stroked back a lock of her unruly hair that had fallen from her neatly made-up hairdo.

I stared at her for a moment, unsure what to say.

"I'm worried, about her… Harry. Please, Annenia has invited us to Christmas dinner… can you come with me tonight to see her again?" She pleaded.

I sighed, leaning back in my chair and rubbing my tired eyes. I had been hoping to get all my paperwork done and get some sleep since school was out for the week for Christmas but… so much for that. "Yeah. Sure, Hermione, if you're really that worried about her…"

"Oh thank you, Harry!" Hermione gushed, looking so pleased that I couldn't quite bring myself to regret having agreed to go with her. She was up and over to me before I knew what was going on, hugging me and planting a firm kiss on my cheek, then hurrying out of the room faster than I could have imagined her going when her typical speed nowadays was 'slow'.

I sighed and shook my head, rubbing her lipstick from my face and going back to what I was doing. Hermione's voice pestered my thoughts and I couldn't help but wonder… was she right to be worried?

**POV: Hermione Granger-Weasley**

"Hey!" I smiled as Annenia opened the door to the quaint old home she'd been living in since I was a little girl and had come to stay that summer with Falin. The name always depressed me so I pushed those thoughts away and instead focused on small chat with Annenia while I helped her finish cooking dinner.

Harry and Ron, who I had dragged there last minute, had immediately gone to watch Quidditch on the telly with Koteis, much to my annoyance, though I supposed boys will be boys.

Jaybin was there for the weekend, as it so happened she was home from Hogwarts for Christmas break. She had told me that she'd intended to stay with her friends, but they were far more boring at the moment than her family could ever be.

"So how are you liking your studies?" I asked as I helped her set the large table – the same one from all those years ago, where I had first been introduced to Severus' large family and Jaybin had been a tiny baby.

"Um. Same as usual." She replied with a shrug.

"I bet you're pleased Headmistress McGonagall allowed you to attend a year early, huh? Since you were born in October you should have been held back a year." I smirked at her.

"Yeah. There was a mixup about my age when I received my Hogwarts acceptance letter, and by the time I was ready to go, she didn't want to disappoint me by making me wait a whole year. I'm the right age, anyway." She shrugged.

I smiled and nodded. "I know how you feel. My birthday's in September, so I got held back a year, of course I didn't know that until I'd gotten the letter."

Just then, Annenia announced that dinner was ready and everyone flocked into the dining room, looking hungry as ever. I couldn't help but notice that Mirianda purposely sat herself as far away from Koteis as she could and sat quietly, hardly touching her food. I also couldn't help but notice that she should be showing signs of her pregnancy by now, but she wasn't. I so desperately wanted to talk to her about it, but now was clearly not the time.

The conversation was easy enough, what with the boys keeping up a steady stream of chatter and Jaybin constantly arguing with her father about silly little things. She seemed oddly defensive at every word he said, and seemed to bristle at the tiniest remarks. Mirianda hardly spoke at all, and didn't participate in the boys' conversation about Quidditch scores, school report cards and Jaybin's crush on some boy at Hogwarts, a matter that normally would have set Mirianda into a rant about being careful and not doing anything stupid. The last thing she wanted was for the same thing to happen to her daughter as what happened to her.

At one point in the conversation, Jaybin got so defensive I thought she'd get up and leave the table, but she ended up just smashing angry dents into her food and being scolded by Annenia for spilling it out of her plate.

Harry and Ron for the most part seemed completely at ease, as though they didn't sense the abnormal atmosphere. But then again, they didn't spend nearly as much time with the Snape's and the Maburdan's as I did. After Falin had died, I had continued my close friendship with Illumine and Mirianda, and eventually the whole family. Even professor Snape and I had been on friendlier terms, though the boys no longer had Falin to tie the rift between the very different families.

"Dinner was great, Anne." I murmured, helping her clear the table and watching as Jaybin dragged Harry up to show him her chocolate frogs card collection. She, as I understood it, had recently discovered that I, Ron and Harry all had our own cards and was desperate to show us. She had grown up around us, and having us as teachers seemed to delight her.

Koteis stalked off to who-knows-where and Mirianda stayed in the kitchen, not really helping, but showing no signs of going anywhere. When Annenia excused herself to use the loo, I jumped at the opportunity to speak to Mirianda alone.

"Miria, are you okay?" I murmured, sitting across from her, a hand resting gently on my swollen belly as I felt the baby kick.

"I'm fine, 'Mione." She murmured, sighing. "Been worse."

"What's wrong? Is the baby alright?" I asked worriedly.

Mirianda's hand shot up to her still-flat stomach. "Yeah." She managed a weak smile. "I'm just not showing yet."

"You're far too thin…"

"Don't give me that. I have Annenia on my back all the time about shit like that, I'm not skinny."

It worried me further that Annenia had noticed her daughter's poor eating habits as well.

"You hardly touched your dinner…"

"I wasn't hungry."

"You need to keep your strength up for the baby." I told her firmly.

Mirianda sighed. "I suppose you're right." She murmured. She stared at the food that we had yet to clear from the table before slowly taking a bite out of the last of the fish and chips.

"How far along are you, anyway?" I asked, pleased by her answer, and even more so by how she seemed to suddenly realize how hungry she was.

She hesitated. "Five months."

"Five? Miria-"

"I know, I know I should be showing, I don't know what's wrong." She paled considerably, suddenly very worried.

"Have you seen a healer?"

"No… I _am _a healer, I don't need to see one. I've already done some tests on myself and the baby seems fine enough… I just don't know."

I sighed, staring at the table in silence for a moment. "Miria…" I began, unsure how to ask this. "How are you… and Koteis getting on these days…?"

I saw her flinch and it was all I needed to know.

"Fine." She replied stiffly.

"You shouldn't lie, Miria, it doesn't suit you."

She flinched again. "It's… complicated." She finally muttered.

"Miria, I'm here for you." I reminded the slightly older witch, reaching across to take her cold hand and give it a comforting squeeze.

She smiled at me wearily, glancing nervously at the doorway before scooting closer to the table, leaning over so her face was closer to mine. "He-"

Ron, damn him, chose that moment to barge in and announce that I simply _had _to come see the Quidditch scores on the telly.

"Not now, Ron." I told him in annoyance.

"No, go watch the telly for a while. I'm just going up to bed." Mirianda smiled at me, and anything she might have been ready to tell me moments ago had been swallowed.

I glared at Ron as Mirianda stood and made her way upstairs.

"What?"

"Bloody prick." I muttered, shaking my head and walking away.

**POV: Haridelle Black**

"Yeah, he's having some party that he wants me to go to tonight." I sighed, sitting back in the kitchen chair as mum slowly washed the dishes. By now, I knew the water she was using had to be ice-cold, but then, that never bothered her.

"You'll need to clean your room first, please. I was just up there-"

"You went in my room?!" I cried, sitting up so fast I made myself dizzy.

Mum turned and gave me an odd look. "I was just putting your clean laundry away. Why, is there something up there you don't want me to see?"

I huffed and sank back into the chair. "No, just stay out of my room, it's private."

"Fine, Miss Privacy, you still need to clean your room before you go."

"I don't want to."

"Well then you can't go to that party with the Danisk boy." She murmured.

"You wouldn't do that to me and you know it."

Mum dropped the dish and spun to face me, startling me. "No! I'm tired of you always getting your way with me! You can't go."

"Not even if I clean my room, mother?" I tilted my head innocently.

"Not even if you cleaned the entire house!"

I smirked. "Okay, fine."

"'Okay fine'? That's it?!"

"I told you I didn't want to go to the party, so I'm getting what I want anyway." I smirked, tracing a line around a stain on the tabletop.

Mum snapped her jaw shut. "Oh no, you're not getting out that easy, young lady. You're going!"

"If you insist." I smirked, turning and jumping from the chair, heading for my room to get ready.

"And I'm coming with you."

My smirk faded. "What?!" I cried, spinning around to face her, all shrewdness instantly disappearing.

All mum did was smirk and turn back to washing the dishes.

"Oh, and you'll still need to clean that room of yours before we leave."

Grinding my teeth together, I stormed up the dirty old staircase and made sure to slam my bedroom door before I began angrily shoving things under the bed and in the closet.

**AN: So, what was Mirianda going to tell Hermione? Review if you please! :D**


End file.
